Dogs in Tokyo
by Nokomarie the Snake
Summary: COMPLETE Summary: Inuyasha's attempts to make his way in modern day Tokyo bring him across modern day youkai.
1. Default Chapter

**DOGS IN TOKYO**

By Nokomarie the Snake

Disclaimer to be understood for all I write: I own nothing but the stories that I write and the sorry shreds of my dignity. In other words I guess I'm just some pathetic nut who takes other people's characters out on afternoon walks and romps with 'em. They are returned back in one piece every time. Much thanks to Rumiko Takahashi

It_ was sunset when the two appeared at the hither end of the well. The young man tossed the worn yellow pack out first and then paused to help the girl, drawing her to him for a lingering kiss._

_They spoke in earnest, soft, voices together and then left the well shrine and headed for the brightly-lit house. The young man trailed behind, pack slung over his shoulder by one strap. Silver hair glinted in the shadows as he glanced up and around at the high-rises beyond the shrine's precinct._

_He intended to get to know all about the great city surrounding him. He had conquered the past and he fully intended to conquer the future._

"_Keh," said Inuyasha and followed Kagome into the house._

_:::0:::_

"Tadaima!" Kagome called as she slid open the front door. "We did it! Naraku's dead and Inuyasha used the Shikon-no-tama in a really neat way and we're all alive!"

Higurashi-San appeared with Higurashi-Jijii to receive the tumbled account and a fervent hug from Kagome. She glanced over her daughter's shoulder to see Inuyasha actually grinning as he watched Kagome. There was something different about him but she couldn't place a finger on it just then.

Kagome was rattling on about the final battle and what Inuyasha had done but Higurashi-San was only listening with half an ear. Yes, they were both doing it. Inuyasha's gaze rested steadily on Kagome. And Kagome, for her part, frequently took little smiling glances at him as if she knew she would meet his eyes each time.

Higurashi-San raised her eyebrows and caught Higurashi-Jijii's eyes. He shrugged slightly and nodded in response to her silent question.

Neither of them was surprised. They had watched the relationship between the two for a long time but now it seemed suddenly to have blossomed into something much more open.

Kagome suddenly turned and reached out to grab Inuyasha's hand and pull him close. "Why don't you show them, Inuyasha?"

The hanyou blushed but did not draw away, simply standing still instead. Both the Higurashi elders stared in bewilderment and then gasped. Starting at the top of his head and moving quickly down spread a stain of inky black. Simultaneously, a complete change occurred. The ears began to slide down the sides of his head as if melting. Eyes darkened to a golden brown. Inuyasha held up his free hand and they saw his claws were gone. Before them stood a dramatically handsome youth of about eighteen or so. The only demonic things about him were the pupils of his eyes, which remained cat-like slits.

"Where on earth did you pick up that trick?" wondered Jijii-sama.

Kagome beamed and rested her cheek against Inuyasha's shoulder. "I've been telling you. Inuyasha used the Shikon-no-tama to gain control of his youkai. He's been practicing a lot and can transform whenever he wants now."

"So, how long has he been practicing?"

"Oh, about three weeks, ever since he got it."

"Three weeks!" Higurashi-San was startled out of her composure. "The quest was finished three weeks ago? What have you two been up to since then?"

Inuyasha and Kagome both opened their mouths, looked at each other, turned beet red and made strangled noises.

Higurashi-San stared at them. Things had obviously gone a lot further than she had thought. "I think we should all sit in the kitchen to talk."

Inuyasha swallowed and turned back into a hanyou. He felt safer that way and he was nervous enough as it was.

Higurashi-San sat down at the bare kitchen table. Higurashi-Jijii sat at one end rather quickly, with a concerned face. Inuyasha and Kagome took the side opposite to Higurashi-San quietly, realizing that there was something amiss.

"Inuyasha, Kagome." She looked at the two and smiled. Who could resist the rather careworn faces across from her. How often had she sent her daughter off in the care of this young man to right her wrong and battle for the balance of the world as a miko should.

But now they had succeeded and it wasn't the exhausted glow of triumph that she was seeing from them. Oh, no, it was a different glow altogether. She glanced down at her fingers, flexed them, and began.

"Kagome-chan I am so happy you have had success in your quest. Does this mean you're coming home? Inuyasha, what are your plans? " They both started to speak at once.

"Well, I, uhh..."

"Kagome and I, we…"

She broke in to the tangled web of explanations before they floundered too far. "Is there something you want to tell me?" She smiled encouragingly, raising her eyebrows.

There was a heavy scrape of a chair and the crash of its falling over. Inuyasha still had not really mastered western-style seating. Everyone ignored that as he made a bow to Hirgurashi-Sama and a deeper one to Hirgurashi-Jijii. "Kagome has done me the honor of becoming my life's mate. She will share in all of my wealth. I beg that you partake also."

"How are you going to live?" Snapped Jijii-chan.

"That's fine, Inuyasha, please seat yourself." Sighed Kagome's mother.

Inuyasha obediently looked about for his chair and Kagome quickly righted it for him, encouraging him to sit in a soft undertone. Where was this going wrong?

Higurashi-san spoke after a few moments. "So. You wish to marry my daughter? She's very young." She sounded careful, hesitant.

"She's already my mate. I will see to that there can be no question and-" He was cut off.

"Kagome!" her mother chided. "You had your wedding without me?"

"No, Mama, never!"

Jijii-chan broke in- "Age of consent in Japan may be thirteen but Kagome cannot marry without parental approval until she's twenty!"

Inuyasha leaned forward eyes flashing. "I told you, old man, she's already my mate! There's nothing you can do about it!"

"Kagome, dearest-The wedding invitations! We'll have to hire the dresses!" Everyone at the table blinked at this sudden turn of face.

"Mama, really, maybe it should be kept private until later." Kagome blushed as she said this and drew on the tabletop with the sweat from her own finger.

"I can do the ceremony and register the marriage from here, but you must sign for Kagome, Daughter." Jijii-chan declared.

"Of course… " Higurashi-san looked around a little wildly and whipped out a note pad. "She can wear my headdress. But where we will hire the kimono from I don't know!"

"Mama, maybe a secret, private wedding just in the family would be best." Kagome's words stumbled to a halt in a sudden pool of silence. Three pairs of eyes were staring at her. Her throat dried and she gulped. "Don't you think it would be easier for me at school if this were kept quiet? Secret? Fewer questions, you know."

"NO!!!"

"Granddaughter!"

"Kagome, that's just too bad!"

"Hi, everybody, I'm home!" Souta sang out as he strolled into the kitchen. "Inuoneechan! How's it going? Hi, Kagome." He suddenly caught on to the tense atmosphere. "Am I intruding?"

"No, " Inuyasha grated. "It's just that your sister would rather live as a woman of ill repute than acknowledge me as her mate."

"You, Neechan?!!" Souta shouted. "Banzai, I knew you would do it!" Souta grabbed at Inuyasha's hands and shook them enthusiastically before spinning to hug his sister. "I know you will be so happy." His face was suffused with joy.

Higurashi-San got up from her chair and hugged Souta. "You are such a good brother, Souta-Chan. Here I have a treat for you and tonight we will go out for dinner and the movies."

"Inuyasha, do you like gangster films?"

"No, dear, you, grandpa and I will go--so no gangster films."

"Well, if you say so." The two left the kitchen leaving Higurashi-Jijii, Kagome and Inuyasha still sitting at the kitchen table.

Higurashi-Jijii broke the silence, clearing his throat noisily, then loudly gulping water. Finally he settled down and addressed his granddaughter. "This is between you and your husband. You know that in the eyes of the kami you are married. I have not heard you deny it. We as a family will support you and we would like a service. It may be small or large as you wish." He paused and fixed a beady eye on her, "But keeping it a secret will have to be your own affair. Marriage is chancy enough without inviting trouble."

He turned his eyes to the silent hanyou and yawned. "Of course, I'm just an interfering old man who wants his paper. Excuse me."

Inuyasha sat for some moments staring across the small room at the familiar yellow walls. He could hear quiet snuffling and smell the hot salt of tears from the girl beside him. He huffed to himself, tamping down on his impulse to pull her into his arms with the ease of long practice.

Kagome bit her lips, looking at the world through a sliding veil of tears. She was so happy to be loved by Inuyasha. All she wanted was to be his wife. But the idea of facing all of her friends at school and having to find some way to answer the endless questions on top of all the lies about her being sick was overwhelming. She hiccuped.

Higurashi-San popped her head around the door jam and waved at Inuyasha. "Bye, we're leaving for the movies. We won't be back 'til after eleven. I've filled a bath for you." She pointed exaggeratedly at Kagome mouthing something that Inuyasha completely failed to get.

"Yeah, doumo, Higurashi-Sama."

He waited until the front door had been closed for some time before he got up out of his chair and scooped the still teary Kagome up in his arms like the child she no longer was and carried her out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

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Reviews are so nice....


	2. chapter 2

Disclaimer: Oh, come off it! See Chapt. 1

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He shouldered open the door and glanced around at the small room which held so much of her. It was probably why he often felt so relaxed on her side of the well. She was there even when not physically present. Of course right now she was present and being anything but calming.

He popped her in a seated position on her bed and climbed on himself to sit regarding her in the dimness of her room . She didn't speak but drew her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them. Inuyasha stared at her frowning and finally opened the conversation himself.

"Kagome, what is all this about? Don't tell me you're mad at me again. I really haven't done anything this time."

Kagome gave a faint wail at this. "No, Inuyasha, you're being perfect. It's all my fault."

"I should think so." Inuyasha muttered before he thought.

"That's really harsh." Kagome snapped, her tears drying quickly. "Can't you even let me feel upset for a little while?"

"I just did! For a long while! Now I need to know why. If it's because you've suddenly changed your mind about being mated to me you might as well change it right back because it's too late now." He sprang to his feet and stood arms crossed staring out the window at the looming Tokyo skyline with its ever-burning lights.

He heard her get up behind him and jumped slightly as she wound her arms around his waist and rested her head against his back. "I said it was me Inuyasha, and I meant it." She took a deep breath, "I'm afraid of what my friends will say when the truth comes out. And school, will the school board kick me out? It's almost impossible to get a good job without a really good education. And I'll need to work. We'll need money. Even the wedding-" here her voice cracked. "Mama said we'd need to hire the dresses and I just know she can't afford it. And where will we live?"

"Why are you so worried about these things? Don't you think I can take care of you? And why can't we live at my house if you're so desperate for a roof over your head?" he huffed and turned around within the circle of her arms.

She looked up at him lovingly. "Baka, I don't want to give up on my family and to have a job you need an address and a telephone so people can reach you. I guess I'll have to train for a job I can do freelance so I can pick when to work and we can still go back and forth some."

He squeezed her, running his fingers down her back to rest at her ribs, claws stroking in a feather light massage. "And the wedding?" he asked, searching her face with poorly concealed anxiety.

"Is on. We'll just have to do without hiring our clothes and maybe just keep it to a Shinto ceremony." She smiled and looked up at him clear-eyed. "I know you'll take care of me. I trust you."

Inuyasha felt the tension drain out of him and closed his eyes. A moment later he was pleasantly surprised to feel Kagome's mouth nibbling at the corner of his jaw and it made him shiver. Three weeks isn't long in terms of a relationship and they were still learning their way around each other. As he threw his head back, he felt Kagome leaning against his front, running both hands from his chest to either side of his face and up through his hair. He dropped his head and kissed her open mouth passionately as she gripped his biceps for balance. He could feel some foreign object pressing against one shoulder and he opened his eyes to look.

His beads were dangling from Kagome's hand were it was on his shoulder. "Kagome? My beads?"

"Maybe I don't need to hold you by those anymore" She murmured into his neck.

He raked his hand into her hair, pulling her head back "You really like to live dangerous, Koi." He kept her still with the hand fisted in her hair and reached to take the beads from her. He studied them as they hung from his fingers for a few moments and it suddenly occurred to Kagome that in the two years they had been around his neck he had never properly seen them.

He grunted and gave a slight toss to pool the beads in his palm before clenching them in his fist. He seemed to strain for a moment and there was a slight greenish flare of light. When he opened his hand he revealed nothing but crushed fragments and a dirty cotton string. Tossing the shattered remains towards the trash, Inuyasha shook his fingers. "Shit that stung. Kaede strings a mean rosary."

He inhaled deeply and then looked to the girl held prisoner by his hand clenched so firmly in her hair. "Now," he said softly, "what about the miko who has unbound the daemon she's been beating up for the past two years?" A clawed fingertip was drawn across Kagome's cheek and over her lips, "What do we do about her?" he whispered darkly and followed the path of his finger tip to her mouth with his tongue.

Kagome remained still and passive. She could sense a profound shift in Inuyasha's aura. It was as if all colors of it had deepened, flaming about him in a cloak of spiritual fire. She had never considered what the consequences would be to the removal of his necklace beyond the obvious inability to 'Sit' him. Or how much of his demonic nature may have been restrained by a simple string of beads.

He was kissing her deeply, making her senses swim. She shivered as he spoke against her ear "You know- the first time I saw you here, sleeping in your bed, you sat me."

"Really?" she murmured distractedly. "What could I have been thinking?"

He sniggered a bit. "I've always wanted to know. It must have been some dream." His mouth and hands were busy causing Kagome to gasp and moan in what he felt was a neat cover for the faint sounds of fabric being sliced.

"Do you dream of me, Kagome?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Hai." she breathed and closed her eyes to feel a feather light brush across her back and the sudden pressure of his arm as he swept her up against him and onto the bed where there was a moment of shifting about on Inuyasha's part apparently pulling back the covers so they could both climb in. A moment later his hair trailed like cool silk across her stomach as his mouth closed warmly over a breast.

Kagome's brows crooked although she kept her eyes closed. How had he done that? She hadn't felt him push aside her clothes. Then a hand was sliding down between her legs to stroke at her nub sending an electric shock of pleasure that caused her to arch and press against him.

The mouth left her breast and a faint rustle sounded before she felt a warm knee insinuating itself between hers. She blinked her eyes open to see Inuyasha already between her legs and leaning over her. A naked living statue in ivory. His hand was still stroking causing small earthquakes of sensation as she tried to figure out what had happened--Where were her clothes?

"Kagome." he purred and leaned to kiss her, teasing at her mouth until she opened for him. She sank her hands into his great mane of hair and moaned as another wave of pleasure warmed her body. Inuyasha broke the kiss with a slight growl and shifted, catching at her hip with one hand as he suddenly entered her, plunging to the hilt.

Kagome gave a breathless cry as her mate took her to a pounding rhythm of raw need. His breath sounded harshly in her ears, almost like cries as they moved together in a flood of sensations. Until Kagome, trembling on a tight wire of intensity saw Inuyasha lean up, a look of near incredulity on his face, his breathing in hesitant, ragged gasps. Color suddenly seemed to rush from his pubis to his face as closing his eyes his body tightened and dove into hers.

He pushed her over the edge and plummeted with her into deep water. They came to themselves sweating and trembling and trying to catch their breaths. After a few moments Inuyasha shifted to the side, drawing her against him. "Kagome," he murmured. "My mate. Gods, it's real and I can hardly believe it. You cannot know how much I adore you."

Kagome turned and stroked her hand over the long line of his ribs feeling the smooth play of muscle as his breathing slowed. "You cannot know how very much I have longed to hear you say that." She sighed and pressed her head into his shoulder. "So that's what would've happened if I hadn't sat you that night. I think it would have overwhelmed me."

Inuyasha gave a lopsided grin, "It would have overwhelmed me too." He reached casually over her and began dropping what seemed to be bits of cloth over the side of the bed.

"What's this?" Kagome asked, stopping his hand. She had to tug to get the cloth free and reached to turn on the bedside lamp. She was holding what had been a portion of her sweater, neatly sliced as if by a razor. She gasped and sat up, spinning to look at him.

He was lying facedown with his arms wrapped protectively over his head. "That's what happened to my clothes! You owe mw a new outfit!"

"Good!" he spoke from under his arms. "That means I get to pick it."

"You really are as bad as that hentai monk!" Inuyasha just laughed.

~*~

Late that night Inuyasha lay indulging in his favorite sport of Kagome watching. He had much to think about. Not least the removal of the beads. He could feel the released energy flowing through him. The freedom of his will to do as he pleased and not be stopped by an embarrassing one word command. He sat up, softly moving away from her side to sit cross legged on the floor in the moonlight. Rapid fire physical changes flowed across him as he explored his new limits. Youkai claws on one hand, human fingers on the other, black hair with dog ears, white hair with human ears. Yes he was fully in control. He looked at his now extravagantly clawed hands and laughed softly, eyes glowing crimson in the dark. This was going to be fun.

~*~

If there had been anyone standing with a pair of binoculars on the third level of the parking garage on the street to the west of the Higurashi shrine the next morning they would have seen some remarkable things in a back corner of the Higurashi shrine grounds. First, a young man dressed entirely in flowing scarlet positively leaping from the back door of the house to disappear behind some bushes. Then appearing in the center of the bushes where there was some open ground invisible to all eyes but those of our imaginary watcher on level three of the parking garage.

The young man appeared to be searching himself reaching into the top of his clothes and finally just pulling the top loose and peering into it. Whatever the item was it was found and tossed away from him only to have him step after it and completely disappear into thin air.

Our imaginary watcher may have been excused briefly to get a cup of coffee. Or something stronger from the bank of vending machines on the street before resuming watch to see the young man suddenly reappear carrying a large package and backing through the bushes returning to the house.

Let's leave the corner of the parking garage and follow him.

~*~

Inuyasha entered the house carrying a bundle of white silk in his arms. Higurashi-Jijii looked up from his paper and studied the hanyou with a mixture of curiosity and disfavor.

"What have you got there --- laundry?"

"Keh, old man, can't you see it's a white court dress? An itsutsuginu for Kagome for the wedding. It took me awhile to find it because the kami of my household had put it into storage."

The old man snorted derisively, "What kami? And since when did youkai store anything?"

Inuyasha ignored him to start laying out the bundle in the right order so that Kagome and her mother would see it more effectively. 

Higurashi-Jijii dropped his attitude to finger the pristine layers of silk being spread before him. Cream colored hakama and a white kosode with layers of graduated tones in the surrounding robes; buff to cream, cream to sand, sand to ecru, and ecru to a pure white. He studied the outfit for a few minutes. "This is really fine stuff, a five-layered robe of museum quality. The design is medieval but this good silk can't be five hundred years old. Even so, it must be worth a fortune."

"Well of course it didn't age, I told you it's been in storage in my house."

"Your invisible house?"

The hanyou did not appear to catch the sarcasm, "That's the one."

"Where is your house now?"

Inuyasha waved his fingers vaguely, "Somewhere with me." His attention was not fixed on the old coot's questions but on something he had said, "You said this stuff is worth money. How much?"

"Not as much as it would be if it had aged five hundred years. Then museums and collectors would be after it. If you sold a few really old items like that you would be set for money for life." He looked at the puzzled face of the young man opposite him. "You could buy a lot of stuff." His voice trailed off as he found himself staring into a pair of huge, faintly glowing, golden eyes. Inuyasha had leaned straight across the table and was almost nose to nose with him.

"I understand I have to have money to buy Kagome things in this time. I have a lot of stuff but no yen notes."

Higurashi-Jijii blinked, feeling rather overwhelmed. How did Kagome deal with such a strong personality? He was relieved when Inuyasha settled back on his heels and dropped into a brown study.

Inuyasha spoke after a awhile as if only to himself: "Parts of this shrine have been around undisturbed since the time of Sengoku Jidai. If I had taken some nice things and hidden them then I could dig them up now and sell them to those--whatever-you-call-'ems."

"Collectors." Higurashi-Jijii supplied. He was staring at the hanyou with a kind of frozen fascination. "What kind of nice things would you have hidden back then?"

"What do collectors like? I have a lot of stuff."

"I think we can find out what the best antiquities dealers are selling." The old man sniggered, a wicked gleam in his eye. "I still know a few people. I'm sure we could get your old things sold with no questions asked." He sobered suddenly, "What am I saying? This is all silly speculation anyway!"

Inuyasha stroked the fabric in front of him with one clawed hand. Higurashi-Jijii's eyes followed the movement and lingered on the beautiful and obviously antique design of the itsutsuginu.

Higurashi-Jijii stuttered, "It's just speculation, isn't it?"

"Just find out what is selling, Old Man, and let me take care of the rest. I," Inuyasha said proudly, "have a great idea."

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	3. chapter 3

As soon as everyone left the house the next morning Inuyasha headed for the well shrine, a long list scrolled up and thrust under the tie of his hakama. He smelled no-one in the vicinity and he was eager to accomplish his project in one day if possible.

He stopped at the work shed and snagged a bundle of tools that stood waiting for him just inside the door. Anyone that saw would have thought he was off after buried treasure. They would have been close but wrong. He smiled a tight, happy smile as he jumped from the top of the well steps clear over the lip of the well and down into the Sengoko-Jidai.

He arrived with a muted clatter and a curse as the inexpertly tied twine that Jijii-Chan had secured the tools with let go. That fixed he made his way by a roundabout route to the back of the shrine complex as it existed in "his time". He and Higurashi-Jijii had agreed on this spot as having been undisturbed since time out of mind so it seemed a safe bet. At least no building or repairs had shown in any of the extant records and Inuyasha agreed that he more or less recognized this strip of wall. Using the pick and a crowbar he began rapidly disassembling it.

Demonic strength and speed can count for a lot if the daemon is clear on what he wants to do. Jijii-Chan's diagram actually came in pretty handy as Inuyasha rearranged the wall to have a cavity in it the size of a steamer trunk with an opening at the top. The rubble fill from the wall he tossed off in various directions and he stowed the tools unceremoniously underneath some brush. He took time to carefully refit the blocks to completely conceal the chamber he had made and dusted off his hands with a satisfied grunt.

Next came what he considered the difficult part. He slipped his hand into the front of his suikan and fished out one of the small, flat stones and chips of wood he had hidden there against his skin.

He regarded the faint tracery of nature's design on the chip of wood he had come up with a flipped it down in front of him. Striding forward he set his foot firmly upon it and kept walking as the world around him was replaced with a faint "pop".

The place he now moved through was his own and, since his mother's death, unshared with and unmentioned to anyone. Until Kagome had turned his world upside down by becoming his mate. Up to that point he had mostly used this place as a way station to shed his long series of ruined outfits and to throw on another suikan-no-hakama of identical appearance which was always there waiting. He had nearly choked himself laughing when he discovered that his companions actually thought his clothing grew back overnight. Other than clothing changes and the occasional new moon when Kagome wasn't there he had largely disregarded this place in preference for the real world of which this would comprise only a scant acre of house and twilit garden.

It was a pocket universe. A bolt hole which was part of every major daemon's magic. Although this one had been created for him by his father for the protection of his mother and himself it was still attuned to him as strongly as Sesshoumaru's own must be. 

Kagome's presence now filled the place and her sweet scent was in the air as he entered. There was a low table in the front hall now heaped with seashells that Kagome and he had collected one afternoon along the northern coast. She had said at the time that in her era the shells were all smaller and of fewer types. Inuyasha shrugged as he turned away from the table. He had other things to do.

As he wandered through the silent rooms of his house he picked up a length of silk and forming it into a sort of bag began opening long untouched chests. These were why he was here.

The kami of the place gathered as he worked. Ghostly forms seen best from the corner of the eye they twittered anxiously as he plundered his own possessions. They were part of the magic of the place and maintained the house and grounds in constant readiness for the master and preserved all that was kept there. They appeared to approve of Kagome and the pools in the gardens now included a hot one. Which was why what he was about to do was going to cause a fight.

It was as he was swiftly going through a wall chest containing scrolls that he became aware of the silence. The twittering had ceased. He looked about himself suspiciously. The room was empty, the shoji screen door standing open to the hallway. He could not see clearly into the dimness of the hall but he could hear a heavy rustling creak. Inuyasha dropped a few more scrolls and small objects into his pack and waited with interest

He didn't have to wait long as the doorway was filled with a figure in the shape of a servant made of folded paper and, Inuyasha squinted curiously, red maple leaves. Inuyasha smiled humorlessly, Kagome would think it was pretty if it didn't stand seven feet tall. He turned his back and opened another drawer.

He snapped his head back around as the creature bowed its head and entered the room to drop into a full obeisance with a mighty rustling and groaning creaks which formed themselves into words.

"Oh, Inuyasha-sama, why are you removing portions of the art collections that belong to this place? Long will we have to search to find replacements of like quality."

Inuyasha sighed. He had just known they would come up with some piece of annoying crap. "You never have had any trouble supplying me with my suikan-no-hakama no matter how fast I had them torn to ribbons or melted by acid."

"No, but the fire rats live in your garden oh, Exalted One and the poets and painters do not."

"Does that mean you can't copy any other clothes? No different fabrics?"

The paper figure shifted uncertainly. "We would need samples, Great Lord."

"Can do." Inuyasha grumbled as he shouldered the bag preparatory to moving on to another room. He paused a moment. "This is for Kagome. I'm going to sell it and use the money. I'll need more of the kind."

With a rustle the paper and leaf servant rose to a kneeling position. "Kagome-sama does not wish to live with us here?"

"No!"

A flutter of distress was evident in the maple leaf decorated sleeves. "She is displeased with the accommodations?"

"No, she wants to finish her studies and make a future in her own time." Why she should worry he didn't know but he didn't add that.

The paper creature stood, creaking and swaying to tower over Inuyasha. "Inuyasha-sama, you are her lord and master. This house longs for the presence of your mate."

Inuyasha hunched a shoulder and spotted a two foot tall ceramic horse standing behind a screen. "Ah, that looks old even here!" He hooked a hand under it and moved to dump it into his pack.

There was an agitated rustling and a white paper hand interposed itself between the figurine and the pack. "Lord, this was old when your father obtained it to delight your mother's eyes. It was brought from the great palace of China."

"All the better! And don't put your hand before me!" Inuyasha slashed impatiently and slashed again as the torn paper construct swirled into a clinging whirlwind of scraps and leaves that pulled and tugged at his sack as if trying to make him let go. "Stop that! Do you want me to break this?!" This seemed to make the leaf-like whirlwind all the more anxious, and it began pulling at the sack and his clothes. 

Inuyasha gave an infuriated shout and with a final slash burst through the spiraling foliage and crashed right through the paper door and straight up the garden path to suddenly emerge into a torrential downpour in the Sengoku Jidai.

"Chikshou!" He leapt in the rain to the top of the foundation wall and carefully slid apart the covering stones to the cache he made and lowered his slightly damp bundle into its dry interior. He hunched, head between his knees as he added a pre-measured amount of water to the compound he had brought along and shook it up. A quick smear along the edges of the covering stones and he set them back into place to weather the fortunes of the next five centuries as best they might.

The temptation was strong to go down to the shrine steps and visit Kaede-baba, but time was wasting on both sides of the well, Kaede-baba's stew or not. He went back through the well; tools over his shoulder to see the results of his handiwork. 

Back in the well house he swiftly pulled off his suikan leaving the white kosode in place. He had noticed that the less dramatic cut of the kosode looked more like the clothing from Kagome's time. A quick shift to a human appearing head while leaving his daemon body in place had him moving from the well house to the rear of the main shrine building with a good deal of smug satisfaction. 'Look human. Do what you gotta do.'

He found himself softly singing as he slowly paced along the back wall of the shrine foundations, running his hand along the top. Here? No, too close to the corner. Here, where the stones seemed a little caved in. He hopped up onto the top of the foundation wall and settled himself on his stomach to pick at the stones with his claws.

It was sunny and warm in Kagome's time and he worked slowly, humming under his breath and delicately easing the covering stones to the cache apart. 

"Well? Did you find it? Did it work?" Higurashi-Jijii stood on the ground not ten feet behind him. Inuyasha executed a startled jump that ended in a full back flip and ready stance that would have done Jackie Chan proud.

"Don't scare me like that you old rooster! You could have been killed!"

Higurashi-Jijii waved a hand disparagingly, "Don't you worry, young man, I am not without defenses."

"Come on, old man, this is not some kung-fu action flick."

"And what would you know of kung-fu action flicks, oh, traveler from a distant time?" cackled Jijii-Chan. Actually, Inuyasha didn't know much. Kagome had told the group about them during their travels and the stories made good listening around the campfire being traditional tales with lots of vivid fight scenes thrown in. Inuyasha had always scoffed at them but listened anyway, cuffing Shippou if he interrupted too much.

Inuyasha hissed his annoyance and climbed back up to resume picking at the narrow rim of moss encrusted mortar around one of the sealing stones. In a few moments he had it loosened and was lifting it free from where it had rested for five hundred years or so.

He peered into the dark interior sniffing carefully. Only a faint whiff of ancient mildew, no trace of the rats which had been Inuyasha's chief concern. He could hear Jijii-Chan fuming with impatience as he dropped head and shoulders into the aperture.

"Tadaima." Souta's voice caroled from no great distance. Inuyasha's head snapped up, encountering the lip of the opening painfully. He sat up swearing and rubbing his head. 

Jijii-Chan walked to the corner and intercepted Souta. "Ah, my boy. How was school? And where are your mother and sister?"

Souta craned his neck in an attempt to see over his grandfather's shoulder. Inuyasha appeared to be placing flag stones on the top of the shrine foundation walls. 

"There're right behind me. Wha…"

Higurashi-Jijii turned quickly and called out to Inuyasha, cutting Souta off. "Come, young fellow, I think we need to get my daughter to look in some old boxes. You will need modern clothing for tomorrow and you may as well take a loan until you can buy your own."

Souta snapped his mouth shut in surprise. Jijii-Chan being nice to Inuyasha? Things were not as he had expected.

The boxes were eventually located by Kagome in the back of a closet. After her father had died no-one had had the heart to send his clothing to charity so the business suits had been put into storage. As if Souta would want to dress in his father's clothes when he went to his first job twelve years in the future. Inuyasha tried them for size and found the shirt tight across the shoulders and the pants loose in the waist but they were wearable. Souta contributed sunglasses and Inuyasha quite liked those and kept them on even after changing back into his kosode and hakama.

The rest of the evening was spent by Inuyasha and Higurashi-Jijii in a most suspicious manner at the rear of the main shrine building. Neither one of them would explain what they were up to beyond stating that they were making repairs. Why repairing the shrine should have Higurashi-Jijii cackling and rubbing his hands was not explained either.

Kagome did make a try at pumping Inuyasha for information but the hanyou neatly derailed the conversation by taking her vigorously to bed and keeping her at it until she was pleading for him to stop as she didn't think she could stand another orgasm. Inuyasha then slept the sleep of the just positively radiating smug satisfaction.

~*~

Kagome wandered into the kitchen looking for breakfast. She had wrapped herself in Inuyasha's white kosode and felt rather daring although she knew the rest of the family was out of the house by now. She opened the refrigerator door and examined the contents humming to her self. "Ah, natto!" she eagerly reached in and pulled out a plastic sleeve with several brightly-colored containers in it. Separating one out of it she took a soy drink and chopsticks to the table and sat down with one leg tucked beneath her. Sighing with anticipation she peeled back the foil lid and set about stirring some soy sauce into her natto.

Inuyasha appeared in the doorway still tucking in his shirt and carrying a leather belt. "Kagome, how do you…" his voice trailed off and his face paled for an instant before he dropped the belt and clapped his hand over his mouth and nose. "Gods, what is that horrible stench?"

Kagome lifted her chopsticks with a lump of soybeans on them trailing a sticky web of slime back down into the container. "It's natto." she said brightly. "Want some?"

"What the hell is natto and what are you doing with that slimy mold? Please don't tell me you're going to eat that fermented shit." He stepped over towards the table, thumb and forefinger firmly pressed above his nostrils.

"Well it _is _fermented soybeans but it's really good for you and nutritious. Besides it's a quick breakfast. Try it, it's a great delicacy, real Japanese food." She dropped the chopsticks back into the container and passed it to him.

Taking the cup gingerly in his hand he stared at the contents, which seemed to stare back at him. He gave the chopsticks a stir having to let go of his nose to do so.

Immediately the fumes rose up making his eyes water. The stench seemed to be an unholy mixture of rotten eggs and the unwashed clothing of an incontinent old bum.__The soybeans appeared to have been cooked but they were covered in a sticky white slime which made a sucking sound as he moved the chopsticks. He lifted the chopsticks and watched as a lone bean slid off to dangle by its own string of goo while many more strands slowly pulled free of the carton to simply dangle.

It was too much. Inuyasha rammed the container into the garbage, chopsticks and all and grabbed the bag out. Two steps took him to the sink and the window above it. He shot the window open with a force that made it rebound closed again. Cursing furiously, he popped the window open more carefully and swiftly wound up with the bag, releasing it at the peak of its arc to shoot out of the window and land, by the sound of it, in the alley that led to the service lot of the nearest high-rise.

Kagome sat at the kitchen table with visions of becoming a closet natto eater dancing through her head. She could just see herself furtively going to the local convenience store to buy single servings of natto and crouching with the bums on the sidewalk to eat it on site. Inuyasha would smell it but she could always say she had taken up caring for the disenfranchised. She could hear him retching over the torrent of water he was running into the sink. Not good. Not good at all.

"You don't have any problems with ripping living beings apart. But then again you do seem to want to survive off of prepackaged ramen stuff…" she couldn't help starting.

He didn't really take the bait. "Ramen cup is something that fills me up quick that I don't have to act all grateful for." he said from the sink, his back still turned. He turned around to face her, his black tee-shirt and silver hair sopping from having turned the spray hose on himself.

'I draw the line at certain things; kills I haven't made myself; fermented, rotting things; human liver." He walked back to her, dripping water all over the floor. Why was she so certain that he was dripping on the floor on purpose?

She was staring pointedly at the puddle he was leaving on the floor when Higurashi-Jijii appeared in the doorway looking like a thundercloud. "Aren't you ready yet? I thought we had agreed to 8 a.m."

"No, we didn't--you just dreamt that up." Inuyasha sounded bored. He turned to Kagome and handed her the belt. She sighed and helped him put it on.

"Where are you two going? I thought I was going to have the day with you."

"Special business snapped Higurashi-Jijii. You can have him back to play with later." Inuyasha rolled his eyes and followed him out the door, picking up a full backpack on the way out.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer…

A small disheveled-looking man stands on a busy street corner in Tokyo. The kind where only a line of broken rubble shows where the sidewalk ends and the pavement begins.

He holds a sign with red kanji and an arrow on it. Translated, it reads: I own nothing…see chapter 1

………………………………...................

They entered into one of those winding, unnamed cul-de-sacs of interconnected streets, which help to make Tokyo one of the most un-navigable cities in the modern world. Two sharp turns in and up a back alley and they were at the entrance of Jukuryo's Fine Antiquities. The shop was nowhere near any parking and had a non-descript front that was completely at odds with its interior. There, track lighting, brushed nickel and the sharp edges of imaginatively cut granite were all arranged to showcase antique to ancient native Japanese arts and artifacts.

Inuyasha paused to peer into an alcove, which had a fairly large scroll depicting a hauntingly familiar tiger youkai scrambling down a misty slope, hung on its back wall. He found himself craning his neck in an attempt to see where the spotlight was coming from. He was just easing the pack down from his shoulders to step in closer when an impatient hissing sounded behind him.

"Tsk, Tsk, this isn't a sightseeing trip." Higurashi-Jijii fumed. "This is business, he's waiting!"

Inuyasha snarled silently to himself and followed to a side door where an attendant was waiting. After an inordinate amount of bowing the door was opened into an elegantly furnished anteroom where another attendant waited by the imposing door of what must their destination. As that door swung open Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks. : The smell…'YOUKAI!' His head snapped around, there… that ancient human looking youkai…in the suit…behind the expansive mahogany desk.

Higurashi-Jijii scuttled forward with every appearance of pleasure to greet the creature that was rising to bow with formal precision to Higurashi-Jijii and the rather uncertain-looking young man in sunglasses behind him.

"Greetings Higurashi-San. It has been too long. Please seat yourselves. Tea will be in directly."

A'ah, yes, Jukuryo-San. This uncouth person with me is my soon to be son-in-law. One Nishigawa Inuyasha."

Jukuryo glanced over in the now scowling Inuyasha's direction with a faintly puzzled air. "That name, so very unusual." He paused as if expecting an answer but Inuyasha chose that moment to dump the pack on the ground and sit down in one of the chairs facing the desk. Both of the elderly men in the room stared in affronted surprise but Higurashi-Jijii hurried to cover.

"You see what I mean, Jukuryo-San!"

"No matter, ah, here's tea."

The tea took some time. The two old friends put aside business and reminisced over old times in a conversation that would have had the Tokyo police department running for their cold case files. Inuyasha scarcely touched his cup as he covertly studied the ancient youkai across from him.

'How could that brainless old goat NOT realize that his old friend is not human?' He wondered. The spotted, clawed hands that had only four digits, the flicker of red behind the thick glasses, the pointed ears, let alone the scent all screamed at Inuyasha. But the conversation was apparently pleasant for the two and was finally moving towards business.

"Well, what do you have for me?"

"A discovery in our own shrine. Fine old ornaments and furnishings of the original household. Better times then it seems, better times."

The old youkai leaned forward with interest as Inuyasha quickly pulled the items they had chosen out of the cache from the pack and dropped them on the desk. Or attempted to drop them. With a strangled squawk the old youkai lunged across the desk and caught the fragile vase in one hand and the ivory figurine in the other. The two scrolls landed on the desk, one unrolling slightly revealing a deer standing in newly fallen snow.

"No, no, do not endanger these fine items!"

"Jukuryo-San! They are valuable then?"

"You know they are or you would never have called me, Higurashi. If they are what they seem to be, they are well worth my trouble. A moment please." The old creature whipped a loupe out of his pocket and affixed it to his glasses leaning in to study the items in front of him.

Inuyasha watched him uncomfortably, almost flinching when he heard prolonged and careful sniffing from across the wide desk. Damn his youkai scent! He was all right as he was, only the slit pupils gave away his inhumanity. But he had handled all of the pieces in the cache as a hanyou and they belonged to his house anyway. The youkai was bound to be curious to say the least!

No comments were made on the odor but Jukuryo mumbled an almost continuous commentary on the fortune of finding such a cache. "Certainly from the end of the Heian era and in such generally excellent preservation--just a little damp on the second scroll--obviously the damage was inflicted far in the past. Perhaps even from when the scrolls were stored."

'Fucking rain!' Inuyasha thought irritably.

The soft cracked voice of the ancient murmured on. "Were they stored in haste perhaps? During the Sengoku-Jidai?" Jukuryo-San sighed and removed his glasses. "One perhaps will never know. The original collector was surely a man of taste. Are there many such items in the cache?"

"We are emptying it slowly. Where they have been so long seems the best place to keep them,"

"Wise, and so true. In the shrine you say? But surely that has been for all intents and purposes rebuilt many times in its centuries of use."

"Not all things wear out so easily." Higurashi-Jijii chuckled merrily and was joined by his friend.

Inuyasha nearly growled. 'Great, you old fart. Why not just tell him it's in the foundations?!' Aloud Inuyasha spoke hoarsely, "It's time we were going."

"A moment please!" Jukuryo-San rapped out. "Higurashi-San you know that these arrangements are usually conducted as a contract in which the items are displayed in the shop and no money changes hands until a buyer is found. However for this first lot I would like to offer a fair price up front." He pulled a slip of paper from a stack that waited on his desk and wrote on it, folded it and passed it to Higurashi-Jijii.

Higurashi barely looked at it before sighing and saying mournfully, "Ahh, the wedding."

"A-ah that's right, let me amend that a bit."

Inuyasha watched incredulously as notes passed back and fourth. Who would've thought the delusional old fart had it in him? Maybe Miroku could sign up for lessons considering they had usually been flat broke during their adventures. On second thought, could be a good thing these two were unlikely ever to meet.

Finally some agreement seemed to be reached. A kimono clad female attendant was summoned and warmed sake was poured as the small treasure trove was removed reverently from the table by white gloved, white coated assistants.

Inuyasha usually thought sake had a throat catching taste but whatever was in these cups wasn't half bad. The female attendant brushed against his arm. He blinked; the little container at his elbow was being replaced. Had he drunk it all? How many of those tiny cups had he had?

" Nishigawa-San as you are a partner in this enterprise and on the eve of your wedding let me gift you with a bottle. It is some of Nemeto's finest and worthy of some slight attention. In honor of the wedding. Banzai." Jukuryo-San smiled benevolently.

A carefully wrapped package appeared at Inuyasha's elbow and the female, girl really, ducked her head in a shy manner peeping at him through her lashes with a whispered "Banzai."

Higurashi-Jijii hopped to his feet and bowed spouting effusive thanks before Inuyasha could open his mouth to refuse. So he shrugged and stood to dip his head briefly in acceptance. "Shall we go now?" he grated and turned towards the door while stuffing the wrapped bottle in his sack and trying to ignore the warm, swimmy sensation he was experiencing.

Higurashi-Jijii caught up with him on the street. "You are an amazingly rude young man, Inuyasha. You act as though you own everything you see. But," he cackled gleefully, "If sales keep going this well you might just. This is yours." He pressed a thick, highly ornate envelope into Inuyasha's hand. "I asked for it in cash so you may buy what you want for Kagome. It's a lot of money though, so I suggest you put yourself in Higurashi-San's, that is, my daughter's hands and let her guide you in buying. Yes, it is an excellent return for the first sale." He gave a slight, happy, belch. "Jukuryo benefited of course, but he is discrete and reliable. You will not be cheated unduly."

Inuyasha was studying the thick envelope with curiosity and was about to open it on the crowded street to examine the contents when Higurashi-Jijii hissed and batted at him all the while looking around suspiciously.

"No! Not here. Put it away boy! Do you want to bring trouble upon us?"

"Feh, As if there were anyone here I need to worry about." He fell silent though and slipped the envelope away in his shirt. The image of an ancient youkai in an opulent office, acting as though there was nothing odd about his dealings with humans and getting away with it. It nagged at him.

"You look a little flushed, Inuyasha, maybe lunch is in order. I know of an excellent place." Higurashi started to rattle on again.

"No, I want to get back to Kagome." he snapped. "How much money is in this envelope?"

"Ten million yen." came the prompt reply ($76,500 approx). Inuyasha shook his head, not understanding. "Two sales like that a year and you can be sure that Kagome has everything she wants. Just never do two things. Admit you are alive or pay for everything in cash in your name. This is for my granddaughter, thanks to you I can now know she can be secure." 

With this Higurashi-Jijii headed home staggering in a seemly manner, given age and sake intake. Inuyasha followed, mind back on that youkai in modern times.

~*~

There was another who was having unsettled thoughts about that meeting. 

Jukuryo now stood in an enclosed deck on the roof of his building. He could just see down to where Inuyasha and Higurashi-jiijii were talking together intensely. The old bird youkai smiled and masticated a seed cake. 

What had it been about that name? Nishigawa, an old, now unused name meaning western power and Inuyasha, a name mildly notorious in youkai history, how could it be? 

He shook his head but the evidence of his nose made him very suspicious. He'd learned to trust his nose over his inordinately long life. Nishigawa…Hadn't there had been a dog youkai clan that disappeared from history without any explanation in the Sengoku Jidai? The same era of the provenance of these wonderful artifacts, with which he rather thought he would pay off some tiresome debts?

"Ryosei!" 

"Tandaima."

The girl appeared behind him hands modestly folded at her waist, eyes lowered to await his bidding. 

"The young man who was here this morning, you found him very handsome, ne?"  
The girl dropped her face a little lower, but could not conceal her blush. 

"You should indeed get to know him. I will provide you with addresses and the use of my own informants for the household schedule. I do not mean to cause any harm that you cannot help causing, but I truly need to know who, and what he is."


	5. Chapter 5

As things turned out Inuyasha and Kagome's grandfather did not arrive at the house for some time. Inuyasha's eye had been caught by some window displays at the Ginza station and Higurashi-Jijii insisted on them exiting to view the tanuki statue at the entrance. From there they were drawn along with the teeming crowd of pedestrians to one of the trendy clothing stores crowding the area where Inuyasha caused a minor sensation in the store staff. As he buzzed through the racks first for clothing for himself and then for several outfits for Kagome, Jijii-Chan stood back and thoroughly enjoyed the various expressions of the shop girls. 

Inuyasha seemed completely oblivious to all this and merely brushed aside suggestions that he try anything on. When one of the bolder girls offered to model his choices for Kagome he frowned and said, "Feh, you're the wrong shape and you'd just stink the clothing up."

This little piece of rudeness won them some needed space and gave Jiijii-Chan some time to give a quick overview of Japanese money and change. Inuyasha listened with patience and proceeded to surprise everyone at the checkout by plunking down the clothes on the counter and swiftly peeling of notes from his envelope announcing the amount of his purchase and the expected change back. Higurashi-Jijii exclaimed and the shop girls laughed but Inuyasha snarled and insisted they would find him "Able to count just fine, damnit!"

Ringing the purchase up proved him right and Inuyasha gathered his bundles to stalk out of the shop with triumphant arrogance and a deflated Jijii-Chan trailing behind him. When they reached the house however, Jijii-Chan got a little of his own back as a bored and fuming Kagome dropped the paper wedding favors she was folding and shipped Inuyasha off to a hot bath. He got to tell his own, carefully edited, version of just how the morning had gone.

Kagome listened in pleased surprise as Jijii-Chan told his story of one or two small items that had been sold so Inuyasha could buy a gift of clothes for her. She was more surprised at the news that Inuyasha could do very rapid mental arithmetic but had to admit that the subject had just never come up in all their travels together. She went through the bags and praised the clothing but what were all these slips of paper with handwritten notes in the pockets? They seemed to be girls names with phone numbers! Jijii-Chan convinced her it would be wise to just ball them up and throw them out and to treat all such future notes the same way.

~*~

Inuyasha dutifully stripped off the borrowed clothing and tossed it into the washer, belt and all. That done he slid the inner door open and eased himself somewhat warily into the bathing chamber. The tub was full of water and waiting but first came the scrub on the little stool with soap. He dowsed himself with warm water that had been ready in a bucket but knew he wanted to do this properly. 

" O.K, so, soap up and rinse. Yeah, that's where the problem was the last time." He muttered to himself. He surveyed the array of bottles in the basket dubiously. "'Damn-most of them have writing on them that is not even kanji! Shit!" he dove his arm into to the basket and finally came up with a bottle he thought he recognized.

Wrenching the top off he up-ended it over his hand pouring a thick stream of pearly liquid over his palm. 'Gods how ecchi.' He thought, slapping the stuff over himself and working up a rich lather.

"Eh?!" The lather was very rich and kept foaming until it was dripping in great glops off of his skin and onto the floor. So, next, the hose-thing. He stood up to take up the hose and caught sight of himself in the mirror. 

"**Bwahahahaha**!!" 

Laughter exploded from him at the soapy image. There was the clang of a dropped pot from the kitchen and the sound of anxious questions but Inuyasha ignored them to grab the spray and aim it at the wall, letting of a powerful steam of water. No burning the hanyou this time.

Satisfactorily rinsed he clambered into the tub to sink up to his nose in the warm water and take a nap.

Sometime later, there was a timid knock at the door followed by Kagome's voice. "Inuyasha, dinner is ready, you clothes have been waiting out here for a while."

He hopped out of the tub and splashed cheerfully over to the door. The water had gone cold anyway. He slid the door open to face a somewhat startled-looking Kagome and swept her against his wet self for an enthusiastic kiss.

"Inuyasha, there are towels in there."

"They're no good -- all wet." He kissed her again for good measure and turned to root around in the clean laundry for more towels. 

She stepped past him and gasped at the state of the bathroom. He was right. The towels, sitting unused in their basket were soaked. As were the walls and the ceiling. Thank the gods for floor drains. She sighed and let the water out of the tub.

Maybe she should have helped him? She felt an instant heat in her groin at the mere thought. No, maybe not. Mother was tolerant but...

She was cleaning a handfull of long silvery hair out of the tub when Inuyasha spoke behind her.

"Well, how do I look?"

Kagome turned and sank back on her heels, hair forgotten and hanging from her fingers. Inuyasha stood in the doorway in human form clad in tight-fitting black jeans and an expensive-looking brown t-shirt. He looked all too good to be true.

"What? You're staring. Is something wrong? These things feel kinda funny." He bounced about a bit on the balls of his feet, watching her from the corner of his eye.

"Inuyasha---segoi! You look perfect!" She exclaimed, all the while thinking; 'Damn, now I'm going to have to fight off all the other girls with a stick!'

Inuyasha blinked a bit but was too busy pulling her to her feet and urging her into the kitchen to respond to the compliment. "Good, I want to go see some things in town. How about you go get dressed in one of the new outfits I got for you and we can get out of here."

"But dinner!" Kagome pointed at the intimate little dinner for two she had set up on the table. Higurashi-Jijii had reopened the shrine shop for the afternoon and no one else was about.

"How long does that take to eat? I want to go out with you."

Put that way Kagome couldn't really find an objection.

~*~

Houjou made his way up the shrine steps carrying a fruit basket and a number of bags. Higurashi-Jijii was manning the shrine souvenir store at the foot of the steps and had sent him on to the house.

"There is someone there who can take them, Houjou-Kun. Too much weight for an old man like me." The old man nodded and smiled encouragingly, waving him on.

'Maybe Kagome is back on her feet and I'll get to see her,' he thought, juggling parcels so he could reach the doorbell.

Inside Inuyasha waited for Kagome, flipping channels on the TV. It was mostly news at this hour. He shifted restlessly. The new jeans were taking some getting used to. And he was not looking forward to wearing the shoes.

The doorbell sounded and he jumped a little, and then sat staring into the hallway for an instant before getting up to answer it. By the time he reached the front door he looked just about as human as anyone.

"Yeah?"

The perspiring boy on the step looked startled and almost dropped the packages he was carrying.

"Uh, hi," he stammered, "I'm looking for Kagome."

"She's busy. Is all that stuff for her?"

Houjou nodded and found himself relieved of his bags in short order. As the last bag was being whisked from his hand he said, "Uh, yeah. Excuse me, are you a family member?"

Inuyasha stopped and bestowed a heart-stopping grin. "I'm her husband. Pleased to meet ya." The door slid shut with a snap in Houjou's astonished face.

"W-what?" he had time to mumble when the door popped back open.

"Almost forgot, in celebration of the wedding. Banzai." The door slid closed again and Houjou found himself holding a wedding favor. After a little while he went back down the shrine steps. The souvenir shop was closed and Higurashi-Jijii nowhere in sight. He was going to have to wait for answers.

Inuyasha took the bags to the kitchen and went through them rapidly. The fruit went into a large bowl and everything else was efficiently crushed and stuffed in the bottom of the garbage. He got a drink and was back to peacefully flipping channels when Kagome came down. She was decked out in one of the new outfits that he had picked and the results were good enough to cause him to reach out and grab her. Pulling her down to the floor.

"Ack!" She gave a token struggle and then relaxed into his lap. "I take it you like the outfit? I've got to admit, everything fits."

"Mmm," he rumbled running his hands over her body in a cursory manner. "Everything but-" She felt a couple of sharp tugs, "that." He held up her bra, neatly sliced in three pieces for easy removal.

Kagome inhaled a furious gasp, "Inuyasha! Sit! Sit! Sit!"

Inuyasha could not restrain a reflexive flinch but then leaned forward to look her in the eye, "Wench, you took those beads off me three days ago."

"Shit!"

"Look, these things are just stupid. You don't need 'em, I don't like 'em, and no one in the ads wear them unless they're selling 'em." He kissed her with lingering warmth as he molded a hand over a breast, circling the nipple with his thumb.

Kagome had the distinct feeling that she was loosing control of the situation but could not quite remember why she should care.

After several melting moments Inuyasha gently tweaked the breast he had been toying with and sighed, "Either we go now or we don't go. There's only so much of this just kissing you thing I can take."

Kagome blinked dazedly and said "O.K."

The hanyou helped her to her feet and disappeared for a moment, reappearing with the plastic trash bag. "See I'm good. I'm taking out the trash."

It just goes to show how off-balance she was feeling that she didn't find this statement suspicious. No, she trailed out after him all starry-eyed over how considerate Inuyasha was being.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryosei finished brushing her hair and stood twisting this way and that, admiring herself in the full-length mirror. She bore little resemblance to the quiet girl in Junkuryo-San's office. Junkuryo-San himself would have drawn a certain amount of sardonic amusement from her altered appearance. Slender and sleek as an otter she sported a little black dress that was off the shoulder and matching pumps.

There was a knock at the door. "It's open." She snapped. The door swung open to reveal a short, tired-looking man in a baggy suit. "Well?" Ryosei barely spared him a glance as she licked a finger to tidy an eyebrow.

"They've left the house and boarded a train heading for the Keio line. The girl was heard to say that they were heading for Keio, Yomiuri Land station."

"Yomiuri Land?!" Ryosei echoed in dismay. She turned again to view her image in its little black dress.

"She was, ah, wearing a short black dress." The man offered diffidently.

"Fine, I'll meet you in ten." She didn't turn to watch him leave as she tore the dress off over her head and flung the closet doors wide open. A total rethink on the outfit was in order.

~*~

The high-speed ropeway from Yomiuri Land Station disgorged its passengers onto a large plaza in front of the park gates. Crowds of people, most of them young, flowed across the plaza all going in the same general direction. Inuyasha looked about him and thought he could've done without changing his hair color. Plenty of the young people there wore their hair in different colors and many of them were surprisingly ugly. Inuyasha stopped to stare at a gaggle of girls with bleached hair and the darkly tanned faces of the lowest peasants struggling along on high-heeled stack shoes. The added height that the shoes gave them seemed to be compensated for by the careful, bent-kneed walk with which they all wobbled along.

Inuyasha shook his head and followed them with his eyes until he realized that they seemed to be looking back and giggling. He snorted and glanced around for Kagome to find she was some distance away in the crowd heading for the gate. She was determinedly ignoring the blandishments of a couple of guys who were moving alongside of her and trying to get her to talk to them. Inuyasha snarled and pushed forward through the crowd. 

One of the young men had just raised his hand to touch Kagome's shoulder when a startlingly loud voice blasted into his ear. "Don't touch her, Asshole!" The young man spun to confront this loud person and had a splintered instant in which to register Inuyasha's darkly frowning brows above fierce tawny eyes before Inuyasha's knuckles contacted sharply with his carotid artery on the left side of his neck and he went down like a rock.

The guy's friend stared down at his fallen comrade and stuttered, "What happened Waka-Kun, you were alright a moment ago." 

Inuyasha just glanced over at Kagome as she smiled and shrugged. "Your friend must have had too much to drink." She said in the particularly sweet voice that warned anyone who knew her that she was seriously annoyed. "He was acting pretty wild you know."

"Umm, yeah." the guy said and stooped to check on his friend who was groaning thickly as he tried to sit up. His eyes were crossed.

"That will go away in a few hours." Inuyasha's voice sounded harshly above them. "Tell your friend that he better watch his behavior. C'mon Kagome." They walked off together leaving the pair behind in the crowd. Some people were stopping to offer help to the "fainted gentleman" Kagome noticed as they lost sight of them.

"Inuyasha," Kagome hissed as they joined the entrance line, "did you really need to knock him out?"

"Yes. Now, what are we supposed to do here?"

"We're supposed to have fun. This is an amusement park."

"Why?"

"What?" Kagome stopped dead. There was an immediate grumble of protest as the line ground to a halt behind them. "Look, Inuyasha, stop making me wonder about you like that. Tonight is just for fun," she insisted.

Inuyasha gave an irritated snarl over his shoulder at the cue of impatient people behind them and continued forward. His eyes were drawn upward to the swooping movement of a brightly lit contraption that spun up in an ellipse just visible beyond the park gates. He could hear frantic screams and detect the faint sour whiff of human vomit carried on the breeze of mechanical and human stench.

"Fun. O.K. Kagome." He started to fold his arms but found no draped sleeves to tuck his hands into. He glanced around covertly and settled for stuffing his hands into his pockets as he followed Kagome into Yomiuri Land.

~*~

Houjou choked on his soda when he spotted Kagome getting on to the Ferris wheel in company with the longhaired guy from the shrine. As soon as he finished coughing he dropped the soda in a designated trash receptacle and hurried in that direction. He had come to Yomiuri Land in company with a couple of his friends from the high school chess club who had been concerned by his rather bug-eyed appearance at that afternoon's club meeting. He had refused to explain but it was common knowledge around the school that he was involved in a painfully one-sided relationship with Higurashi Kagome, the girl who had spent the last two years catching every disease known to man, some of them twice. Why Houjou continued pursuing a girl who, while very pretty, had such massive health problems and who consistently either stood him up or cut short their dates was a mystery.

His friends broke into a trot to follow him as he jogged to the Ferris wheel. There was not much of a line and he succeeded in getting into the gondola, but one from theirs. He was unable to get into the one that was actually next to theirs because a couple of guys, one with a red neck and a very angry look got hold of it first. Houjou and his friends tumbled into their carriage and waited as the Ferris wheel moved again in a slowly jerking motion. 

"Well, uhm…Houjou…Are you just following this girl Kagome" His friend Zesshou leaned against center pole of the gondola and sighed. "So how are we to get to her, oh Commander?"

Houjou sat back as he realized that he could not only not get to Kagome's side but he could not possibly get off the ride before she did. Talk about chess game mistake number one. Do not even begin your opening gambit until you know you have a winning move! "Oh, shut-up!" said Houjou and stared out at the trees as the wheel moved upwards again. 

~*~

Inuyasha gazed out in wonder at the verdant parklands spread out beneath him lit by the glow of the numerous rides and concession stands. In it's way it was beautiful. He lifted his head a bit and saw the last of the sunlight outlining the snows on Mt. Fuji's summit so that the summit seemed to drift on it's own like a soap bubble on a lake of violet blue water. It had been a beautifully clear day, the first of autumn.

He looked back at Kagome and she was smiling at him. She was sitting back resting in the curve of the opposite seat with one booted foot up on the wheel around the central pillar which hitched the skirt of her dress up along her black-stocking covered thigh. He laughed. "Well now what do you want, girl?" He said with a helpless sort of affection glowing in his eyes. 

Kagome blushed and sat up more erect as she looked around at the view of Tokyo and the surrounding amusement park through the trees. "To be honest, I don't think I can ask for very much more then this moment right now with you." 

But Inuyasha wasn't listening. The people in the gondola below them had drawn his attention. Two young men, one with a swiftly darkening bruise on his neck were leaning out of either side of their gondola and making rude gestures upwards at them. Inuyasha stuck his head out between the bars and snarled down. "I thought I told you two assholes to go home!" 

"Yea. Bite me Dick-Head." 

"We're goanna kick your butt, and get your girl too!" the other guy leaned out of the gondola and called upward cupping his hand around his mouth. There was no mistaking whom they meant.

"Heh! Wouldn't you like to watch that?!" the other laughed raucously.

Kagome lunged after the rapidly disappearing Inuyasha as he wormed himself out of the cage and climbed up. Balancing on top of their gondola roof during a pause in their ascent as people were being let on far below. 

Inuyasha settled himself on the gently swaying platform in a crouched position. The wheel was going to move again and he would be at the apex, at which time gravity would favor him so he could climb down to the hub and wait for the idiots carriage to reach the apex after his. Then he could climb straight back up and rip their heads off. 'Those assholes are going to get out of my sight,' he thought as he waited for the next pause.

"Inuyasha! What do you think your doing up there?!" Kagome was easing her body out between the bars to climb up as the Ferris wheel jerkily started to move again and the gondola swung.

"No! Gods-Kagome!" he put his hand out uselessly towards her as she gave a faint shriek and jolted against the bars of their gondola as it finally rested at the highest point of it's turn. "Shit girl! Stay still! Don't move a muscle!" He started to ease himself on his stomach, legs first, down off the gondola roof as the Ferris wheel finally pitched into motion and began its smooth ride. 

His feet swung forward and bent slightly, toes contracting on the bar that Kagome was teetering on, his body behind hers. "Get in! When for fucks sake are you ever going to grow any sense?" Within moments Kagome was back in the cab braced between Inuyasha and the central pillar as she shook with a newly discovered fear of heights. 

"Inuyasha what were you trying to do?"

"Get those assholes in the carriage below us."

The car swayed and rocked again as they shifted and she gasped and held onto him as if he was safer than the central pillar as the wheel turned. "Well stop it! You're scaring me!" she clenched onto the front of his t-shirt with both hands and he stood swaying lightly with the movement of the carriage and gently enfolded his arms about her back. 

"So you don't want me to beat those guys up?"

"No, stop It Inuyasha! Things aren't like that." She hesitated "You can't do that," she hesitated again floundering for words. "It's just not ok for us to do that in modern times-we'll get into trouble."

"Us?" 

She snorted somewhat damply against his neck her eyes were closed and she punched at him slightly. "Us, Baka. You jerk! Anything you do immediately involves me! You'll never be alone any more." 

Inuyasha rode the carriage down, cradling Kagome in his arms a bemused expression on his face. "Really…?" he murmured against her hair.

They were silent as the cars continued on their ten-minute course and got off quickly followed by the occupants of car seven. The sun was down and the nighttime park came alive.

Kagome tugged him by the hand and he followed, somewhat reluctantly. What was this going to be? Kagome looked back at him, her face mischievous. Her features were half lit by an orange light from across the way, and by a bluish light on the other side of her face from the entrance of the attraction that they were going to. She smiled looking oddly devilish, for such an openhearted girl. "An Oni House, Inuyasha…you should feel right at home!" 

He pulled back at her hand dubiously. "An Oni house?" She laughed and pulled at his wrist drawing him after her, her face turning all the way to the blue light giving him an awe inspiring vision of her profile glowing in unnatural color. 

Suddenly Kagome turned back to him "These are all familiar to you! It's just a lot of dummies dressed as youkai, but their supposed to be scary…" she grinned, "I'm sure you can handle it."

He drew a breath to give a snorted 'Keh' but choked instead. This place was really too much for him. A moment at the ticket booth; and they were directed to a cart that looked like some sort of love seat surrounded by a black clamshell. Inuyasha carefully drew back the bar, before the attendant had any opportunity to. He didn't want so many people so close to him. There was a faint impulse of panic just below the surface of his thoughts. Too many people; it was difficult to keep up the façade of an indifferent hanyou, even though he was nearly undetectable in this guise the awareness was always there. Maybe one day, with Kagome's help, he would no longer feel that way. 

He hoped so at any rate as the bars electronically clanked down into their seats, and they were jerked off into the darkness of their ride.

~*~

Houjou arrived with his friends on his heels, out of breath and staring up at the marquee of the haunted house. Orange light from to a cotton candy stand across the way stained his back, his face was a mask of blue from the light of the marquee that said: Tachi no Jigoku-loosely meaning Mansion of Hell. 

The entrance itself was pure creep show. Decked out with holographic windows full of spirits and oni masks hanging from the walls, it was really something else. Plenty of dry ice was being used, making the azure light look spooky and foggy. The recording that boomed from the entrance itself called out in a wicked voice: "Come and enter the mansion of hell! See the demons of the seven hells but beware-they may get you!" 

"They went in there," Houjou exclaimed "Quick get seats!" 

His friends said "Hai!" in unison and sprinted forward flashing their wrist badges to the surprised looking gate attendant hopping into a car leaving Houjou to climb into another just behind. 

A second later there was a thud next to Houjou and he snapped his head around to stare in astonishment at the quite beautiful young woman with purple stripes in her hair that was so suddenly sitting next to him. She smiled politely and dropped her eyes, and then looked up obviously checking him out. "Mind if I sit here?" She asked.

"No, no of course not! Could I offer you a…" *Thump* the bar swung down and crushed him back into the seat most uncomfortably. The car started up with a jerk and trundled off into the darkness, the woman's low laughter trailing behind. 

~*~

The cars ran up a straight track to a flame filled mouth. Puffs of air with bright orange light and horrific moans assailed them on all sides. All of the passengers on the ride gave a bit of a squawk as the cars took the first right hand snap turn into an area that was lit with bright blue flames and horrific threatening Oni sweeping their clawed hands out over the heads of the passengers from either side. 

Kagome gave a delicious yip and wrapped both arms around Inuyasha's neck. Inuyasha roared "Kagome stand back!" And tried to leap out of the seat but found himself inconveniently held back by the metal bar. 

"INUYASHA! SIT!" 

"THAT DOESN'T WORK KAGOME!" 

"It's just for fun. They are just machines."

  
"Are you sure?"  


"I think so." She looked around as they jerked on the track, and glanced at Inuyasha as he sat there in offended silence with his arms crossed over his chest. 

Finally he said, "Keh, well I'm not sure I believe it all." He put his hands down to the seat and leaned forward, peering impatiently out into the gloom. "What is this thing supposed to be about, anyway?"

Kagome crossed one ankle over the other and stared at the top of their carriage lip as she contemplated an answer. There were some bursts of steam and whistles as they went past the next display. "Inuyasha, it is supposed to be…fun…and…for couples kind- of romantic. You know, the girl gets scared into the guy's arms."

Inuyasha turned his head and stared at her. "What the fuck kind 'a good would that do? You know I have trouble fighting full out when I'm carrying you around!" 

Kagome looked off to one side, "Oh look, now we have spraying blood from that surgery scene." 

Inuyasha looked a little green. "…Bluagh."

Behind them there was another whistle and shriek as the girl next to Houjou got sprayed with some of the fake blood. "YEACK! And this is _new_ too!" She shook her hands out.

"Oh-I'm sorry Miss!" Houjou exclaimed as if it were his fault whipping out a white handkerchief from his breast pocket. "Please, use this!"

She looked at him suspiciously. "Um…thanks…" She muttered taking it and wiping her front off. "I think you might want to take this back," she added dryly, holding it out to him. 

Houjou rather reluctantly lifted his hand to take it when their attention was brought forward some hundred yards ahead where a brightly lit Chinese style daemon with great black whiskers and a red face shifted in his golden armor and swung his masumune to the right and to the left. When the swing went to the right a great dark door opened, and echoing shrieks could be heard as those cars swung through that exit and apparently dropped. When he swung to the left doors slapped open and rising squawks could be heard as those cars turned off into an apparent inferno.


	7. Chapter 7

They burst through the doorway to the right and down a sharp slope, splashing through a layer of water concealing the tracks. The light was a cold, greenish blue as if it were moonlight illuminating trees and rocks and the shapes of traditional houses tucked between them. Kagome could make out what appeared to be a graveyard further up the track and felt that the ghostly music sounding over the speakers was fitting. She turned to Inuyasha and stopped what she was going to say in surprise at finding him in the act of trying to force the bar that held them captive in the seats out of its housing. At that moment, the ride stopped with a loud thunk.

"Uhh, Inuyasha! I think you broke it! Please don't do that. We'll just say I panicked and you were helping me out." She gabbled as soothingly as she could. She looked at him in dismay; could he never adjust to the modern day?

"Damnit Kagome! How do you get these things open?!" He pushed at the bar uselessly twisting at it. 

"Wh-a-a?" She goggled at him. "You don't. It'll start again in a moment…" Her attention was drawn by a figure stepping out from behind a tree and advancing slowly down the artificial slope to the edge of the watercourse. It was a very convincing looking youkai. 

"See, one of the attraction actors is coming now. He'll really try to stay in character; so don't be surprised." She was relieved. "Wow, he's really real-looking! Great make-up!"

Inuyasha ignored her and repositioned himself to surge upwards powerfully, releasing the bar with a loud snap. "They are youkai, you twit. Get out of this thing and stay behind me."

Kagome shook off her illusions of safety and scrambled to comply with his arm to help and only a second to spare as claws slashed down from the other side of the carriage.

He spun to face them in the dimness feeling at a distinct disadvantage in his already waterlogged sneakers. There were two of them on either side of the carriage now. Both tall and somewhat man-shaped with heavy rams horns curling from the center of their foreheads to frame their faces. He shuffled backwards-forcing Kagome to stay firmly behind him with one already clawed hand.

"Inuyasha," she said tremulously, the hair pricking up on the back of her neck. She could feel something behind her and spun to face a bloated red thing with grasping hands.

At the same instant that Inuyasha leapt to meet the charge of the snorting ram youkai Kagome snapped up her hands with a shriek of infuriated terror and a blue flash occurred between her palms. As Inuyasha swept into a spinning attack the blue spark contacted the red things chest and it popped with a loud report.

Inuyasha turned, surrounded by his usual rain of minced youkai to see Kagome standing with her back towards him and her hair lifting for an instant in some sort of electrostatic charge. There seemed to be nothing in front of her. Inuyasha hesitated and scanned the area around them for any other opponents. He could hear human voices in the background and the low, persistent honk of some alarm or other. There had been a short figure behind that of the mechanical Chinese daemon at the entrance to this part of the track. He had seen it in a quick glimpse of a white face with bulging eyes peering directly at them as the android made its sharp movement and they had been sent through this door. The whole thing had been a trap.

"Higurashi!" shouted a voice.

~*~

Ryosei felt satisfaction as the ride clunked to a sudden halt. Things were going to plan and she was sure to be able to study the girl and strike up a conversation with the couple easily in this situation. She could see some movement in the fog up ahead but pushed at the bar of the cart uselessly.

"I want out. Why can't I get out?" She looked about her and was reminded of her seatmate. She turned to face him, "Sir, can you help me? I don't feel well and my friends are up ahead of us."

Houjou-Kun stared at her in the blue-tinged gloom. She was asking him for help? "Of course, rely on me ma'am." He squeaked embarrassingly (his voice was still breaking at odd moments). However, he could actually help in this having spent a perfectly miserable summer two years ago helping his uncle do maintenance on Disneyland Tokyo. "Just help me push down on this bar and." He pressed a recessed button at the side of the carriage. The padded bar obligingly popped up.

"Technically, the bars shouldn't be lifted until an attendant comes but…" He trailed off in surprise as a bestial creature standing on two legs lifted its horrible claws and brought them down and through the carriage in front of them ---destroying it.

"Shit!" Ryosei squawked and dove for cover between the carriage and the side of the watercourse. She turned peering forward though the misty gloom to see a lithe dancer's form silhouetted in a leap against the misty screen of light, arm out stretched to catch at a larger shadow and cast it down. It spun in place to leap again in another direction as an electric blue flare of light flashed briefly and faded. Her heart pounded: she had never seen such beauty of movement. It was like a revelation.

"Higurashi!" shouted Houjou. He slogged forward through the water covering the tracks suddenly coming face to face with the longhaired guy from the shrine stepping toward him in a manner that could only be described as threatening.

"What do you want, Punk?"

Houjou backpedaled a bit and would have fallen if it were not for Ryosei arriving behind him and grabbing his shirt.

"Hey! You could get us in trouble for that! Touching or assaulting Yomiuriland actors is strictly forbidden! It's posted all over the place!" 

"What Yomiuriland actors? I don't see any here." Inuyasha stated as he shoved his very solid shoulder in the way of Houjou's further advance.

"There was one here in costume. I saw you punch him! Kagome, if you want I'll take you home. I don't think you should be with a violent guy like this."

Kagome spoke up; "Look, I think I see an exit sign! It's over there behind that rock. Let's get out of here." She started to herd everyone to the exit and sanity. 

Houjou hung back whispering to Kagome "Why is that guy staying? He's a menace! I'll bet he's looking for other park employees to go after.."

"Do what she says and consider yourself lucky!" Snapped Inuyasha from behind him.

With a barely repressed snarl, Kagome swung back and grabbed Houjou's belt, dragging him behind her by it in a determined quick march headed for the exit. "Please, Houjou-Kun, don't worry so."

"Well he could you know!" Houjou cried half frantically. "They say they'll prosecute!" 

Ryosei grabbed his elbow, urging him on. "Please can we just get out of here? I'd feel better if there was a man with me!" She couldn't wait to get out of there she fumed to herself. She was going to kill that little snot! All she had wanted was a break in the ride so she could introduce herself without seeming to have angled for it. Very important to build trust and Ryosei had spent the last fourteen years of her life telling believable lies so that she could be on top and safe. Now she was suddenly running around in a situation that she did not understand. Obviously what she had seen in the gloom was not what her seatmate had seen. There he was, chattering away again now.

"Kagome that guy is obviously some kind of a nut. Why don't we just leave him in there and get away to somewhere where it's safe." They had found the door and stepped out into the busy half-light of the park.

Ryosei broke in, speaking to Houjou. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you knew these people."

Houjou and Kagome stared at her in surprise. "Who are you?" Kagome asked as Inuyasha stepped out of the emergency exit and let it slam shut behind him.

Ryosei found herself stammering as she got another eyeful of this astoundingly bishounen guy. "I'm, ah.."

"You're that saké girl from this afternoon aren't you?" Inuyasha stood with his thumbs hooked in his waistband and flicked his gaze over her with humiliating indifference. He shifted his attention to Kagome and quickly reached to brush something off of her shoulder. "I think we get you home now, Kagome." 

Kagome glanced down at herself and found she was covered in flecks of what looked suspiciously like glistening red meat.

"Mr. Nishigawa, I…" Ryosei broke off, focusing on what was on Kagome's dress. She immediately fished in her little alligator purse. "Here, please, young lady. You seem to have something on your cheek." she said passing Kagome a packet of tissues.

Kagome clapped her hand to her face in dismay and started blotting. "C'mon, Kagome." Inuyasha said and began to draw her away.

Ryosei took a step after them. "Please, just a moment of your time Nishigawa-San!"

"Later, Saké Girl." he answered over his shoulder and whisked Kagome off into the night.

Ryosei took another step and stopped, "But wait I just wanted to.."

"So, she is in some kind of relationship with that guy!" Houjou's voice sounded aggrieved. 

Ryosei turned to him in puzzlement. "Of course, aren't they getting married very soon?" she watched him carefully. "Is this a surprise to you? Surely with such a young couple there must have been some talk." She gazed at him, blinking a bit against the fumes.

"I didn't know anything about it! Or, no, wait.. I did. There were rumors. But it just can't be true! She's so pure and delicate. He must be forcing himself on her." Houjou spun and caught at Ryosei's shoulders. "That's it! He must be holding her against her will!"

"That was my impression!" she gripped his shoulders and stared intently into his eyes. "We must talk about this. Here is my card, and here…" she tore out a pen from her purse, "is my cell phone number." She pressed the card into his hand curling his fingers over it. She stepped away and smiled as she waved "Ja ne!" and walked off, leaving him staring at the card in his hand.

She quickly walked around the corner and started looking. There was no way that little crap had gotten out before her and he was looking for another infusion of money anyway. Ever since he had gotten his ass so thoroughly in trouble with the master she had been supporting him and his booze habit. There he was. Lurking around the corner in a shadowed space between rides. She sped up and with a "There you are." drew him with her into the shadowy cul-de-sac between the nearest ride and let him have it.

"Jaken, what was that supposed to be?" she hissed in his ear. "You were supposed to disrupt the ride so I would have a chance to look like I was meeting them by accident, not try to kill the guy!"

The man's pop-eyed face was sullen. "I am sure my master would prefer him dead."

"The master?" she echoed and frowned shifting to lean against the yellow painted fence surrounding the base of the roller coaster. "Fine, but don't you think Jukuryo-San is going to get suspicious if his new antiquities source winds up dead in a freak accident? That would be two in one month and I don't want my cover blown. Jukuryo is already puzzled about the disappearance of the previous one and he seems very curious about the past of this one. He wants me to investigate thoroughly."

The little man's face went more sullen still, sinking into his collar in a bulging manner that made him look remarkably like a frog fallen on hard times and miffed about it. "Enough is known about this one. The master would prefer him killed."

"How do you know that? I thought you were in bad odor with the master. This guy only showed up at Jukuryo's today and the only order I have received is Jukuryo's to check him out." She paused and glared at him suspiciously, "Wait a minute, you're holding out on me. You know who this Inuyasha guy is!"

The little man stiffened and stretched to his full height beadily glaring into her eyes. "The masters secrets are safe with me. You are not to be told. My master would be delighted for this Inuyasha to meet with a fatal accident."

"You know, you always go all funny when you're speaking of the master." Coming to a sudden decision Ryosei said, "So you're not going to tell me huh? Well you may wish you had by the end of this evening." She swiftly leaned forward and pressed her lipstick covered mouth hard on his (effectively stunning the little man) and then reached up and grabbed the collar of her own shirt and ripped it. With a convincing shriek she stumbled out of the shadows and fell to the ground neatly blocking his way out. "Help! Rape!" she cried out.

The little man started and snarled, hand going into the breast of his coat and fumbling out a short carved rod. His fingers slipped though and the rod dropped out of his grasp to roll off into the shadows. With a cry of distress he stumbled after it only to be blinded by the glare of a powerful spotlight shining in his eyes. 

Security, as defined by athletic young men in blue pounded into the area with a "Hup! Hup! Hup! Hup!" knees lifted high, and grabbed Jaken. Hauling him off by his shoulders, they tossed him into the waiting security cart. Ryosei watched as Jaken sat, looking about himself haplessly-as if he couldn't believe this was happening to him. She started patting down her pockets, knowing Jaken would be released soon as someone higher up than park security recognized him. She needed to move quickly if she wanted to keep him at a disadvantage. 

"Where the fuck is my cell phone?!" She muttered digging through her pockets. She remembered having heard a light thump on the grass at some point before security had arrived. She went back into the shadows to search for her cell phone but found instead a short staff. It was only about the size of one of those giant pencils, but its appearance was most curious. At one end were two faces were bound looking away from each other. One was the face of a crooked old man, the other that of a woman whose hair wrapped around the rod portion of the staff. The hair seemed to move gently beneath her fingers.

She was about to drop it to the ground when she suddenly had a change of heart. 'No, better to keep this unusual item. Who knew what inappropriate person might try to pick it up.


	8. Chapter 8

__

Home the quick way on Inuyasha's back while covered in drying pieces of meat: 7;a bath (sigh): 10; finally getting down to last minute studying: 3. 

Inuyasha lay on Kagome's bed on his side head propped up on one hand as he frowned in concentration at the hand held up in front of his face. He was running it through rapid transformations starting with human fingers straight up to full youkai claws. Then he started on single digits. He found that his thumb transformed also no matter which finger he chose. He grunted and started again

"Inuyasha would you stop that?" Kagome asked irritably.

"Stop what?"  


"Changing your hand around like that and staring at it."

"Keh, I need to speed up my transformations. This is battle practice." He stated firmly.

"No it isn't! You're just playing with your hand and it looks weird. It's very distracting." She replied.

Inuyasha rolled over onto his other side and took up the exercise with the other hand. "I have to master this, get used to it Bitch."

"Bastard."

"So...we're both right. Now shut up and do your homework and I'll do mine."

Silence fell as the pair quieted and got on with their respective work, until Kagome's eye was drawn by the hanyou's activity again. At first she thought he was lying on his side doing some kind of weird hand stretching exercise. But it didn't look right. It took her a moment or two to focus on the shadowed image of his hands on the wall beside her bed. There was a wolf's head morphing into a bird with fluttering wings. The bird seemed to grow larger and suddenly all that could be seen was a bird's head with a roving eye and a sharp pan tingly hungry beak. When a distant "Caw! Caw!" sounded Kagome let him have it with a pillow.

"Damn it! Can't I get any peace around here?"

He spluttered with laughter. "I can't help it if I'm more interesting then your homework wench! Come to bed."

"I can't, I really have to finish reading this for my anthropology class tomorrow or I'm toast." Receiving no answer she turned back to the paper she was slogging her way through. It was an old monograph printed in the early 1900s on ancient folk customs and she was having a hard time with the old-fashioned kanji that peppered the text like so many ink spots. 

__

'First take blah blah blah and entrap you….'

Kagome paused in her reading and frowned down at the paper. "Damn, there are just too many weird words in this thing, how am I supposed to read this?" She got up and walked over to the wall to get her character dictionary and started counting radicals. Inuyasha peered over her shoulder.

"What are you doing anyway?"

"Looking a word up."

"Why?"

"I can't read it. Looking it up is the only way I'm going to find its meaning."

Inuyasha sighed. He was finding reading very frustrating himself. Legible kanji seemed to have given way to a new style that looked like a bunch of drunken chicken tracks that did not have any meaning of their own. Most of what he saw was incomprehensible.

Kagome smiled a little sadly at his sigh. 'Poor guy, he can't read at all,' she thought and kindly pointed out the complex character she was looking up. "It's this one. I think it may be millet but I can't find this variation in my dictionary and it doesn't really make sense in the sentence anyway."

Inuyasha followed her pointing finger and blinked in puzzlement. "It just says birdlime, Kagome. Don't you know what birdlime is?"

Kagome became very silent and stared at the character. It was a twelve-stroke radical of an obscure word. She tentatively stabbed at another kanji symbol nearer to the top of the page that she had known. "And that one?"

"Bird, Kagome." Inuyasha said patiently. "Are you reading up on ways to catch birds?

I could always just catch them for you."

"It's a paper on country traditions." She looked a little grim. "So, what does this say?" She stabbed her finger at a string of kanji that she had been avoiding.

"Chronic headache sufferer." Inuyasha read off promptly and ran his own claw down that string and on to the next kanji. "That's weasel teeth but everyone knows that's just an old wives tale. It doesn't really work on headaches." He sucked on a fang thoughtfully. "Fun killing the weasels though."

Kagome gave him a dubious glance. Sometimes it was impossible to tell if he was serious or doing a deft job of pulling her leg. Especially since his most recognizable form of humor was to tease others until they were driven to attack, at which time he would bounce around displaying his obnoxious physical superiority. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said with disturbing enthusiasm, "did you know that if you twist--"

"Please don't tell me; I want it to be a surprise. How about you help me with this paper so I can get done sooner."

So together they worked through the document quickly and surprisingly enjoyably. Kagome pointed to the hiragana letters and sounded out the words for him while he read off all the kanji for her in a display of considerable skill. He couldn't resist adding some insights on many of the traditional cures and therapies that Kagome was sure she would get nowhere else. 

"You know," she said softly as they finished up, "I find I have to apologize. Gomen, Inuyasha, you have all kinds of skills and talents that I don't know about so I assume you can't do things. I need to get to know you better."

He snorted and slid his arms around her. "Well, I was raised a gentleman even if a lot of it didn't stick. At least I behaved myself better than that hentai monk."

Kagome laughed. "I really don't think you were under all that much temptation."

"Woman, I had a major thing going for you for almost two years straight."

"You? You can't mean that."

"Yes I can -- I'm youkai, remember, and being with you may have made me feel calmer but that's not the only thing you made me feel." He sighed into the back of her neck and ran his hands over the slight swell of her belly. "Think how confusing it was for me Kagome -- waking up after I had been sealed believing I was facing the woman who had done it to me and feeling more turned on than I ever had in my entire life. I couldn't figure it out. Kikyou had never had that effect on me before."

Kagome was silent, letting him tease her with light touches of his fingers, his claws accentuating the movements.

"But after all, it was you," he said, moving his hands to cup her breasts, "not Kikyou at all. I had a very tough two years keeping my hands to myself."

"You never let on," she mumbled.

"I tried to kiss you once but you freaked out on me. At the time I wanted to tell you what was on my mind but I never even got to finish my sentence. After that Kikyou was alive again and everything went to hell in a hand basket: you may not have caught on but Kikyou sure as shit picked up on it right away and saw to it I was on such a guilt trip that I never knew which end was up."

She turned her head to reply but Inuyasha caught her mouth with his and groaned, pulling at the hem of her modest nightdress. "Maybe later," was her last connected thought.

~*~

Meanwhile in scattered locations around Tokyo:

At Yomiuriland corporate offices a high-level meeting was just getting started---

He could see that the master was with clients through the smoked glass "Are you sure it's him? He doesn't like disturbances."

There was a sigh on the other end of the line. " I'm pretty sure. He keeps saying 'I lost it. Tell Master'."

"O.K. fax me a picture." He watched the image come through. The match was positive. He let himself into the meeting room and eased around the parameter to his objective. "Sir, Jaken has been picked up by security. Some accusation of sexual assault on a female."

The high-boned face turned slowly, eyes glittering, "Jaken who?"

~*~

At the surprisingly large and intimidating holding area of Yomiuriland security---

"I demand my rights! You can't keep me here. Where is my accuser Bakkatachi!" He thrust his neck up and shook his fist at the surveillance camera.

"Hey little dude, don't be so uptight. They actually serve you breakfast in the morning before they arraign your ass."

Jaken looked unwillingly at his cellmate. He was a very tall thin guy with bleached hair and a heavily made up face. The guy patted the blanket of the room's single utilitarian bed invitingly. "Room for two, really!"

Jaken spun around and frantically resumed yelling. "You hear that you Bakkatachi! I'm warning you!"

~*~

At Hotel Four Seasons Tokyo--

Ryosei sat tensely in the bar of the upscale hotel she was currently living in not smoking a cigarette. Of course, she had seen to it that there was no lighter. She really didn't want a cigarette at all. What she wanted was a distraction in the shape of a man to come by and try to light one for her. She needed distraction badly.

The little staff was the problem. She had been stroking over the silky hair of the woman on up to its face when it moved and bit her. Damn, the little nick was still bleeding.

~*~

At Silver Rain pachinko parlor--

Clatter, bop-bop-bong! A roar surrounded Higurashi-Jijii as he enthusiastically shook his container of balls into the pachinko machine. Jukuryo-San checked the figures on his palm pilot. "It should start paying out on this spill!"

Jijii-Chan sat back down and took another slug of cold beer. "So, who keeps track of this parlor? Not you." He had to shout.

"No, I have people to work these and let me know when a machine is close to payoff. Boring job, I barely break even since I pay them. I do this for the thrill of winning."

"Nice."

"Interested in selling more antiquities?"

That's pretty much how the night went.

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Ficlets! They are fun. The last four vignettes were 100-words ficlets. I can see why people do these.

Anyway, I feel kind of lonely out here in the dark, please review? I'll give a cookie.


	9. Chapter 9

Inuyasha glanced up at the TV. The grayish figures of an old black and white movie swirled across the screen and parted to show a beautiful woman in antique dress tied to a cross. A fire had been set beneath her feet and the flames were now lifting in the wind. A bareheaded samurai suddenly broke though a knot of struggling men and paused for a moment, sword in hand, as the woman lifted a tormented face to him. With a despairing yell the samurai dropped his sword and leapt, clearing the flames, to land feet braced on either side of hers and body pressed against her in a tight embrace. A sudden close-up showed the pair gazing into each other's eyes with looks of love before the flames swirled up around them and obscured the screen and a frenetic commercial for the latest pop CD took over. 

"Oh, that really is such a wonderful story," sighed Mrs. Higurashi's voice from where she stood in the doorway.

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulders. "Well, they're going to die the way they're goin' about It." he said.

"Oh, they do. It's a hopeless love you know. She's married to that lord in the corner."

The movie was back on again and Inuyasha studied the screen and saw a particularly fat and ugly daimyo standing on a porch of the palace.

She went on. "His army stands between them and freedom. So they die together. It's a very famous movie. Very romantic--kind of like what Kagome-Chan told me about your past." She smiled at him dreamily. "I knew as soon as I saw you that you and Kagome were predestined for each other. When you two speak to each other it's as if there is no one else in the room. So faithful."

He dropped his eyes and concentrated on rolling his pen across the table in front of him. 'Yeah, romantic,' he thought. 'Clinging to a notion of love with a girl I hardly knew I got myself pinned to a tree for fifty years and a lot of heartache.' Finally, he spoke, "Higurashi-Sama I truly love Kagome and will provide for her and you too. I will defend this family against all threats. But you are wrong about my past. My past wasn't romantic; it was fucked up. Of course, so are they--I'd be saving her, not kissing her while my feet burned off." He spun to face her his eyes lighting with a glow that Kagome would have recognized and acted on. "Do you know what happens to the human body when it's roasted without having its guts ripped out first?"

"I think dinner's burning," Mrs. Higurashi said brightly and hurried back to the kitchen.

Inuyasha smiled slightly and changed the channel to the Japanese version of Animal Planet. 'Works every time.' He thought and settled down again to copying hiragana characters. He was experimenting with using a ballpoint instead of a brush but he was not very satisfied with the results. 'No wonder everything looks so damned spiky.' he mused as the day offered its next interruption.

"Inuyasha, I want us to select more items from the cache. They will be up on consignment this time so the profit will come more slowly." Higurashi-Jijii folded his arms and looked down his nose at the seated hanyou. 

Inuyasha considered diving back down the well to his forest or even moving his study materials into his house where he could expect to be left in peace. But no, things were awfully quiet anyway without Kagome to distract him. "I'll get more stuff from the cache if you answer some questions from me."

"About what? Spiritual matters? I thought you would never ask."

"Gods! No, you old wombat! I want some information on the place that Kagome and I went to last night. Yomiyucchiland or something," he shook his head impatiently. "That happy-garden place or whatever it was."

Jijii-Chan sniffed. "Yomiuriland you twit. What about it? It's just an amusement park. A place for the stupid to waste money. You would do better making money, young man. What do you want with a stupid place like that?"

"Nothing really, I just want to know why the place stinks the way it does." Inuyasha frowned, returning to rolling his pen. "It smells like something I know."

Jijii-Chan smirked, "Bad plumbing, no doubt." Inuyasha shot him a venomous look and went out to reopen the cache.

He was back shortly thereafter with a couple of plastic grocery bags full of antiquities and a bad attitude. The bags were upended without ceremony onto the low table in front of the T.V. but if he had been expecting to upset Jijii-Chan he was out of luck. Jijii-Chan merely grunted and leaned forwards from his seat on the couch to examine the goods.

"Where did you get this one from?" Jijii-Chan inquired holding up the object in question. It looked like nothing so much as a pair of misshapen pots stacked one on top of the other with an uneven glaze of red on the top and green on the bottom. There were deep cracks baked right into it, but it appeared to be watertight nonetheless.

Inuyasha looked at it in surprise. He had not realized he'd picked that one up in the collecting sweep of his house. It was one of Shippou's pottery making efforts that the pint sized kitsune had pressed on him. He must have subconsciously been trying to get rid of it. "It's nothing," he said "just toss it."

Jijii-Chan looked at it thoughtfully, and set it carefully aside. "No," he said, "We'll offer it as part of this lot. They won't be able to determine the exact age even with the best testing. It's just a little ahead of its time." 

Inuyasha stared at him as if he had sprouted another head. "Fine, whatever." He shrugged his indifference and quickly bundled the selected goods into the small backpack.

~*~

Jijii-Chan was proved right about the ugly little bowl later that morning as Jukuryo-San examined the lot of goods in his office. "You see this?" He said carefully handling the peculiar little bowl. "The design--it is organic and embodies a novel sense of the beautiful. It proves the adventurous spirit of the artist in ancient times. It was surely used in the tea ceremony," he announced in a confident tone. "The shape of it as a water container in the ceremony would remind the participants of the imperfection and transience of life. Very evocative, it should bring an excellent return when offered to the correct institution."

Inuyasha couldn't keep still for this. "You've got to be kidding me," he declared flatly. "That thing was a mistake the day it was made. The bowls were ugly to begin with and too small so the maker stuck them together and fired the result anyway."

"How would you know?" Jukuryo-San challenged promptly, a glint in his eye.

Inuyasha was thrown for just an instant then recovered nicely, "Just look at it. Its got ' I am a mess' written all over it." He folded his arms and sat back scowling through his Ray Bans and remembering the day Shippou pawned it off on him as payment for eating all the shrimp chips.

[Which is why this item was included as Myomaraware in the recent exhibition of sixteenth century Japanese art at the Metropolitan museum in New York City. There it had its own pedestal and black background at the entrance to the exhibit with careful lighting to bring forward the mossiness of the green against the depth of the blood red glaze. The seemingly random notes of the biwa and flute drifting in the air completed the setting of this most important piece. Few were the serious students of art not affected by the inscrutability of the east. The fact that Shippou had been attempting to make two separate bowls and Inuyasha had briefly used it as a pisspot had no bearing on its identity whatsoever and would have been pooh-poohed by the shows administrators. After all the piece was insured for over a million; it had to have been correctly identified. Yup, the boys cleaned up on that one.]

Finally, Jukuryo-San declared himself satisfied and saké was brought. 

"You'll have to excuse the informality," he explained as he poured the tiny servings. "My assistant, Ryosei, seems to have gone missing. I am most concerned for her safety as I consider myself in some way responsible for her. We must serve ourselves I'm afraid."

Inuyasha took a cautious sip, studying the old youkai. "She was alright when I saw her last night," he volunteered.

"Ah, and where did you see her?" Jukuro quickly refilled the cups all round.

"At Yakkiworld." was the prompt reply.

Jijii-Chan sighed and slapped his forehead. "Yomiuriland boy." Turning to his old friend he elaborated, "It's an amusement park all the young idiots are going to lately."

"I've heard of it." Jukuryo-San replied shortly. He seemed distressed by the news and nervously poured another round. "Did she speak to you? Did she seem well? Was she with anyone?" The blank stares of the other two brought him up short. "I know this sounds odd, Higurashi, but office assistant was not Ryosei-San's only position."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped as Jijii-Chan gave vent to a titillated "Ooh."

Dismayed, the ancient youkai shook his spotted head and flapped his clawed hands in denial. "No, no, not like that! An association of that sort at my age is too exhausting to contemplate! The shopping for presents! The irate relatives! The eventual disenchantment and the inevitable threats of suicide! Believe me, this young man here is admirable in finding his life's mate so young. Not everyone is so lucky in his or her choices. When I had my chance I decided to wait until the time was right and then it was too late."

"Unfortunate accident?" ventured Jijii-Chan.

"No, she got tired of waiting and left me flat for a--" Jukuryo-San suddenly caught up with himself and gave the saké bottle a frowning glance. It was empty. He opened another "That's neither here nor there. What I meant to say was that I have employed her and others in the past for their skill in information gathering but she is the third in a row of such employees to disappear."

"Did they all disappear at the amusement park?" Inuyasha was making connections. The underlying smells of youkai all through the amusement grounds. This lone youkai in modern times concealed in plain sight. Disappearances…Hmn. Unbeknownst to him, Inuyasha assumed what Kagome called his brown study pose number one; arms folded, face slightly frowning, stare fixed and unblinking. His companions in the room stared back at him until Jijii-Chan became impatient and waved his hand in front of Inuyasha's nose.

"Oi, kid, we're still here."

Inuyasha twitched and blinked "Well, did they?"

"Did they what?" this from a puzzled Jukuryo.

"Disappear from Yippie-Yippieland!" Inuyasha shouted in exasperation.

"Yomiuriland." the other two said in unison.

"Growlf!" Inuyasha snarled, knocking over his cup.

~*~

Inuyasha left the two old cronies to their bottle of après-breakfast saké and set off to walk the surprisingly short distance to Yomiuriland's gates. The day was fine and he felt it was a damned shame that his walk had to be on the crowded streets of this bizarre city. He could not really make up his mind as to whether he was amazed at or appalled by his surroundings. Kagome assured him that this was the same area that he had wandered all his life but the signs of the past were very hard to perceive. 

He looked around and then up the steep glittering faces of the buildings. Even the sky was different. The clouds were all different, heavy and lower in the thick air. It was as if there was a low-lying fog of miasma with its own winds up beyond the net of power lines and wires that zigzagged from every building and nearly every pole.

A truck rumbled by and belched a cloud of exhaust. He covered his mouth and coughed. He couldn't say it stank worse in Kagome's time. Human settlements in his time that were large enough to have anything like a dye works or a tannery had worse air quality. And the rice fields with their black mud nourished by animal dung and collected human waste were enough to make eyes stream and noses run. It just seemed that many of the odors in Kagome's time were actually poisonous.

And yet, a man of eighteen was considered practically a child here. Kagome when he had first met her at fifteen should scarcely been away from her mother and her mother at thirty-five was considered young. Inuyasha smirked, most of the women that age in his time were pretty worn and toothless. All of which would indicate that humans enjoyed a significantly longer life span in this era. He would have to find a way of asking. He hoped that having a longer lifespan would help to soften the shock when the time came.

He brushed through a knot of people waiting at a bus stop scowling abstractedly. There were quite a number of things that he simply had not explained to her about her status as his life's mate. He stopped for a moment and shoved his hands in his pockets with a grunt. Hell, he hadn't explained anything to her. It wasn't as though he couldn't think of anything to say or failed to understand the ramifications of the given situation. It was just that if something couldn't be summed up in a positive statement or two it was hardly worth talking about and he was a lot more interested in making love to Kagome than raising unfamiliar and possibly distressing subjects.

The light was changing and he surged forward with the crowd of humans to cross the last street before the entrance to the amusement park. Gods they all seemed the same! Like so many cattle of the same breed.

But then there was Kagome, endlessly leaping to conclusions off of too little information and trying to make the best of others or improve herself. "Keh," he snorted to himself with a warm smile and caught the eye of a baby in a carrier who grinned toothlessly back.

Kagome, he mused as he stood in line for entrance at the park gates, it seemed to him there wasn't a single time he could think of that she hadn't gotten the reading of the situation and the people around her dead wrong. Everything from believing that Kouga would be happy to accept affectionate friendship with her to mistaking his own expression of frozen horror and guilt ridden sorrow whenever he saw Kikyou for wordless passion and longing. How do you explain anything to someone so given to making wrong assumptions like that?

Well, he thought as his turn came up at the ticket counter, he had better find a way to tell her the truth before she started drawing her own conclusions or there would be hell to pay. Tickets half price before noon. How nice, why not free?

He passed through into the park and all further personal considerations were lost as he again picked up the faint but all pervasive scent of youkai….

………………………………...........................................................................

A/N How wonderful winter is! Ice and a 45 degree driveway have landed me at home for a few weeks with my left arm in a cast up to the shoulder. Expect updates--one--letter--at--a--time.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Yomiuriland looked a good deal different in the daytime. Gone were the imaginatively dressed youths. In their place Inuyasha found himself surrounded by long strings of uniformed children following adults holding different colored flags and women pushing babies in little carriages. He snorted, following one particularly overloaded carriage that seemed to be carrying enough supplies to last for a week in the wild, didn't the women of Kagome's time ever just pick the kid up and carry it? Maybe their arms were weak.

Actually, all the infants seemed to be bundled up into little packages and carted about. Kagome wouldn't do that with their pups would she? He stopped himself with the sour reflection that pups and when to have them was another thing he had not discussed with his mate.

He grumbled to himself and shrugged through the throng at the gate headed in the direction of the Oni House. At least it was easy to find standing as it did in close proximity to the foot of the giant Ferris wheel. As he glanced around he saw a bizarre figure by one of the benches handing out balloons. It looked like nothing so much as a giant rendition of a toy dog, white with scattered multi-colored stripes.

Inuyasha approached this strange being suspiciously. It certainly didn't look like any youkai that he'd seen and on closer examination didn't smell like one either. The odor was that of a human male of past middle age with the pervasive smell of nicotine and recent overindulgence in alcohol in its blood. He circled it warily and studied the stupid dog costume with a jaundiced eye.

The costumed figure continued passing out balloons to the crowd of school kids in front of it for a few minutes. As the crowd dispersed the balloon carrier kicked up one leg and gave an audible fart while singing out in a falsetto voice about having enough gas for his balloons. The school group thought it very funny but Inuyasha stalked by with a snort.

He soon reached the area of the Oni House only to find it quiet and unlit with a sign that indicated it was closed so far as he could make it out the writing. He lingered a little stymied as to what he should do without access to the interior of the attraction and gravitated to a food stand nearby. It was apparently named Putit Dog with a large plastic version of the dog-suited guy on the sign but he recognized what the place was selling as bread wrapped meat. Oh, yeah, "sando" Kagome called them. He obtained two of the largest ones and looked around for a place to sit. The benches in the sun were full and those in the shade were still wet with dew.

He cast about him with an impatient frown and finally spotted another bench away from the others but close to the fence surrounding the base of the roller coaster. He went and settled there tearing into his food with sharp white teeth. As he chewed rapidly he that from that vantage he had a clear view of the emergency exit that he and Kagome had used last night.

The door stood open and he could see that workmen were using it as a place to run power lines through into the building. There was movement in the dimness beyond and a figure stepped through the exit into the daylight speaking into something held to his ear. Inuyasha could just barely pick up the words with his human ears but to improve his hearing he would have to let his ears transform so he just tried to chew quietly.

"Can you hear me better now? Sorry, they're having to cut the track." The man paused and appeared to listen. "Yep" he said in response to some unheard comment. "Kagitsukeru says he can smell traces of some unidentified humans and dog where the remains are. Yes, yes, our friend was there too, behind the gatekeeper in the previous room. Doesn't matter if he won't talk yet. We've pretty well got him red-handed. See you later." The man put whatever it was that he held in his pocket and suddenly stilled in an attitude of attention.

Inuyasha watched silently as the man looked slowly about the area seeming to be sniffing the air. A vagrant gust of wind swirled some leaves on the path and blew the man's hair up on his forehead carrying the man's scent to him and revealing a stunted pair of horns at his hairline.

Inuyasha felt his spine stiffen and the hair at the back of his neck standing up. He waited motionless as the man shook his head and disappeared back into the open doorway only letting a pent up breath out when he was gone.

More youkai, but why? There didn't seem to be any direct threat from them that Inuyasha could see. Going slashing after this guy seemed pointless until he had some more clues about this group. Kagome had always given the impression that youkai were unknown in her time but the truth seemed to be that animal youkai were scarce. Human appearing youkai of various sorts seemed to be more of a presence in this time than in the past. 

He balled up his trash went to toss it away. The trashcan stood on a little concrete platform among the rhododendron bushes that lined the fence. There was a small grassy place beyond which seemed to have been recently disturbed with several clots of turf having been kicked up fairly recently. Something nearly out of sight under the bushes caught his attention and he stepped through the gap to take a look at it.

Once there he found the small, grassy place even more interesting. Here was a combination of two scents only about twelve hours old and with a definite tang of youkai mixed in. The first he recognized as the perfume he had smelled on the Saké Girl from yesterday. The other, youkai, scent was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. If was as though it was filtered both though a spell and a radically complete change of diet but still carried traces of amphibian. 

He shook his head, defeated for the time being. His eyes were drawn again to the object that had first attracted him and picked it up giving it a good sniff. It was clearly a frequently used possession of the Saké Girl's. Her scent marked it strongly. He could feel the faint warmth that meant "battery" to him and he thumbed at its smooth red casing to have it unfold in his hand to display a bank of tiny buttons and a tiny blank gray screen.

"Please keep on the path." He jumped and spun to confront the speaker. There was a park worker in a green uniform with a rake in hand bowing behind him. "For the preservation of everyone's enjoyment in the plantings we ask that all keep to the path except in designated areas." The fellow bowed again and Inuyasha moved out past him with a barely repressed snarl. Gods how he hated being human. He walked quickly down the path towards a stand of trees where a convenient bend hid him momentarily from sight. It was an easy matter to leap upwards into the braches and let his human aspect go.

Once transformed he made his way out of the park using the briefly empty slope of a roller coaster to really get some lift and speed. This was much more like it. He at least was coming away with a few hints and something he was pretty sure that girl had never intentionally left behind. It seemed reasonable to him to pay a visit to Kagome at school and at least find out what the item was. Judging from the sun her lunch would be soon. They could share it.

~*~

It was just as Kagome was finishing up on a pop-quiz in English that a frisson of awareness invaded her concentration and made her look outside. There was Inuyasha large as life and sporting white hair and dog ears waving in at her through a third story window over a sheer drop. He pointed up insistently and suddenly vanished from sight as the teacher came by to collect papers.

She numbly handed the quiz over barely keeping herself from leaping at the window to verify that Inuyasha's sudden disappearance wasn't due to falling off the side of the building. Not that that was really all that likely to kill him in his current form but the effect on his temper could be disastrous.

She had to admire his timing though as the noon bell rang and the class exploded into the usual frenzy of getting ready for lunch. A good half of the students piled out the door in a competitive rush to get to the small room where the soda machines were. Kagome joined in pretending not to hear one of her friends calling out to her to bring a can of soda back with her. Usually she ate lunch at her seat or visited friends in other classrooms.

Forty-five minutes to call her own and a chance to get away from prying questions and be with Inuyasha was worth all the sneaking she was going to have to do. She didn't know if Houjou-Kun had talked about seeing her and Inuyasha together last night or if anyone else from school had seen them but rumors were rampant and she was running out of pat answers.

Kagome quietly slipped away from the group of students she had attached her self to and ventured down the corridor that her school map informed her was the way to the stage door of the auditorium. She had met Inuyasha a few times on the roof of her old middle school but that was then. This was a different school and she had just returned from an absence that had lasted for nearly a month. And yet, here she was, sneaking up to the roof to meet with her lover. How many girls her age had put quite as much time as she had in casing her school for ways up to the roof?

The stage door stood open at the top of its short flight of steps. Taking a deep breath, she clutched her clipboard more tightly and walked quickly up the steps. The entrance was dark, blocked by several thick layers of curtains from the glaring spotlights of the stage. She turned immediately to her right and started to make her way around the back wall, stepping (oh, so carefully) over half seen obstacles in the nearly stygian gloom. The clipboard contained a list of every prop she could think of in a hurry, which she intended to pretend to check if discovered.

As she neared the center of the back she could hear bits of the dialogue. 

"_Yes, I am indeed beautiful! Sometimes I sit and wonder, in my artless Japanese way, why it is that I am so much more attractive than anybody else in the whole world. Can this be vanity? No! Nature is lovely and rejoices in her loveliness. I am a child of Nature, and take after my mother." _The voice carried an assured, almost saccharine sweetness.

Kagome nearly swore, hearing the voice. 'Yukino Satsuke, show-off!' Kagome had a good voice and could have tried for the part of Yum-Yum in the Mikado. But no! She was unreliable and too far behind in her studies to be allowed such extra curricular activities such as trying out for the school play. No, what she got was a life of terrifying adventure and great deeds and…she hung her head a bit at this…even greater love. She shook her head, she must be mad. Lead in the school play.

She winced as the voice on the stage lifted in a warbling rendition of "The Sun, Whose Rays Are All Ablaze". Oh well, their loss. That was one play she wasn't going to. She picked her way even more slowly now, the corner to the far wall of the stage was coming up and she didn't want to run into anyone controlling the lights. She peered around the back scrim. The stool was empty with a can of soda and a half-burned cigarette on the shelf next to it. And beyond it were the metal stairs to the catwalk. Kagome scuttled forward and gained the stairs in an instant. School slippers kept her feet soundless on the rungs as she rapidly made her way up. She kept up a litany of 'You don't see me' in her head as she reached the head of the steps and the beginning of the catwalk. The door she was looking for was there, beyond a thick bundle of electrical wires and hanging ropes.

Kagome searched in her uniform pocket and came up with a small folded packet of offuda and selected the one that said simply "Open Locks". She slapped it on the door and concentrated a moment to hear the lock snick back. The offuda dropped to the floor, its virtue exhausted. But the door was now open. Whatever else anyone could say about Miroku one thing was certain. He really had the goods with those spiritual powers of his. How or why, nobody knew.

Kagome slipped through the barely open door onto the roof of the auditorium and turned to stuff the lock plate with crumpled pieces of paper. She eased the door shut as quietly as she could and sighed in satisfaction as it closed with nary a click. A clawed hand suddenly clapped over her mouth and she was pulled backwards into a warm hard embrace. The familiar swirling lurch of Inuyasha jumping to another location occurred without warning and Kagome squeaked in confusion.

She found that he had taken the both of them to a higher level of the building in a warm and sunny spot tucked in the space left by some transformers and a niche in the wall of one of the stairwells. There was window onto a landing just beyond them but the angle of the wall made it impossible for anyone inside to see them on the roof. Kagome could hear the voices of students and the vibration of feet pounding up and down the stairs though.

Inuyasha moved his hand to the side of her face and pressed his lips to hers not really kissing but nibbling there for a moment before sliding his cheek against hers to breathe against her ear. "Kagome," he whispered, "what took so long? I thought you were never going to look up."

She repressed a giggle. "I was doing a test, Inuyasha. I couldn't look up." She whispered back. "They would've thought I was cheating."

Inuyasha snorted, blowing her hair a bit. "You? Cheat? Shit, you can't even take unfair advantage." He leaned back slightly and ran his finger down the line of buttons adorning the front of her school shirt. "No more tiny skirt." he mourned.

"You wouldn't want me to be laughed at would you? This is what all the girls in this school have to wear. And the skirt's not really that bad." She brushed at the gray fabric. "One of the teachers said today that if my hair got much longer I would have to start wearing pigtails"

"what? Why would you have to wear the tail of pigs in your hair?" Inuyasha scowled at the very idea.

"Not tails of pigs, pigtails! Like this, see?" She gathered her hair up in two bunches on either side of her head and stuck her tongue out at him. He studied the arrangement for a moment and shrugged.

"O.K. if you want to." He said a little dubiously.

"I don't want to." She snapped, "can't you tell? Mou, if you were in school they would make you cut your hair."

"Cut my hair? Are you nuts? Have you ever seen a youkai with cut hair?"

Kagome thought about that but continued with her statement. "If you didn't comply they would shave you head in the principal's office."

"I would kill them." Inuyasha stated flatly and changed the subject. "What is this thing?" he asked, pulling the red plastic item from his pocket.

"A cell phone, where did you get it? It's almost out of juice." Kagome fiddled with the phone for a moment, "Wow, what a lot of messages! Someone must be looking for it."

"No, someone is looking for the owner, remember that girl who was on the ride last night? Well.." Inuyasha explained as best he could about the disappearance of the girl and the presence of youkai in modern times. Kagome listened with the deactivated cell phone in her lap.

"So, no police huh? I hear the paperwork is not worth turning things in anyway. If you want to check the messages we'll have to buy a power adapter but that's not too hard."

Inuyasha smiled slightly and took the cell phone back along with Kagome's hand. His fingers tangled with hers as he looked down at her through black lashes. His other hand came up sliding behind her neck, pulling her forward into a kiss. They wound about each other Inuyasha pressing Kagome back against the warm brick wall of the school.

Kagome blinked and gasped, "Inuyasha, they'll see."

Inuyasha shook his head in negation as he started on her buttons. "They can't see." His fingers twitched impatiently and the top button to her blouse sailed off to bounce across the roof. "Oops, sorry."

Within the school a bell rang. Inuyasha slumped with a grunt. " I know, the warning bell." Kagome sat up and started tucking her shirt back in with a rather sheepish nod. "How about I pick you up at the front when school lets out?" More sheepish nodding, but this time with a grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N Can't blame a guy for trying.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

He was waiting outside of the school as he had promised. She couldn't see him but knew he was there by the way that the head of each of the girls that passed through the school gate would swivel to the right for an instant as if on some sort of check string. As she started down the steps she heard Eri's voice calling out from behind her.

"Kagome-Chan! Wait up!"

Kagome almost stopped, almost turned around when a sudden thought struck her and she picked up her pace and practically flew down the steps instead. Taking the corner at the gate at breakneck speed she didn't pause as she grabbed Inuyasha's hand and yanked him after her into the nearest shop and down behind a magazine rack.

Inuyasha crouched beside the deranged human that was his mate and watched her pant for a moment before speaking. "Oi, Bitch, what the hell are we doing?"

"Your hair." She managed to get out. "My friends are out there and the last time they saw you you had white hair and gold eyes." She stopped to resume panting and raised herself up a little bit to see Eri and the others just outside of the shop looking puzzled and offended.

Inuyasha snorted his annoyance and turned to glare back at the shopkeeper who was staring at them from behind the counter. "What are you looking at?" The shopkeeper gulped and shook his head. "Nothing?" The shopkeeper nodded with alacrity. "Look somewhere else then," he instructed only satisfied when the shopkeeper turned completely around and started an impromptu inventory of cigarettes. Then he slunk even further into the corner as Kagome's attention was helplessly drawn to the shop door's jingle.

Kagome stood up, facing the trio of girls with whom she had shared everything until just two short years ago when she'd stopped being able to tell them the truth. "Hi guys," she said in a voice that sounded forced even to her. I'm here to buy the magazines for our current events project. Can't start too soon."

All three girls frowned in unison and looked at the rack Kagome was standing by. After a moment Yuka said, "But Kagome, we haven't even gotten a topic yet and I don't think hobby magazines are going to help us much."

Ayumi tilted her head and looked beyond Kagome, brightening with a smile as she caught sight of the person standing in the shadows. "Well, hi, Inuyasha! I bet you're the reason Kagome is suddenly so interested in model building." Kagome turned her head stiffly to look at the inappropriately colored "violent boyfriend" who was taking shelter behind her.

Not much could be seen of his features with the _Annotated Guide to Modern Warplanes_ in the way but the tall, flexible body was unmistakable. Kagome tried desperately to think of a believable explanation for his complete change in hair and eye color when Inuyasha brought the open magazine that he was holding in front of his face down and unknowingly fixed Kagome's opinion of his much maligned intelligence for all time.

"Feh," he remarked, slapping the magazine shut and putting it crooked back onto the rack upside down and in the wrong slot. "Kagome," he said, gripping her elbow in sustaining hold and fixing his golden eyes meaningfully upon hers. "Sorry to break this up but we've got to get going." He could see the girls over Kagome's shoulder inhaling in preparation for asking a thousand questions.

Kagome dragged her eyes away from his with an effort and waved to her friends with a weak promise of 'Call you!' as she was more or less pulled bodily from the shop by the impatient hanyou.

The girls were left behind, each to deal in their own way with fluttering hearts only to be very surprised by the shopkeeper going into a coughing fit from having bitten off and swallowed the end of his cigar. How could a guy go from having a dark black braid at one moment to silvery-white hair and definite fangs the next without ever having his hands out of sight? He asked plaintively when he could finally speak.

Only Ayumi listened to what he said but she was always a big one for gathering a load of information in silence and forming her own opinion. Thus, she was no better help to the shopkeeper than informing him that his chi was out of balance and that he needed a more dry diet. 

~*~

Some blocks away, a retransformed Inuyasha paused in his progress down the street. He had been keeping up a fairly stiff pace with Kagome as they argued the merits of appearing human altogether or human with white hair (Inuyasha tending to the opinion that he wouldn't change at all and that everybody could go stuff themselves) when, without a change of expression, he walked backwards to the spot he had been in a bare moment before. Kagome quickly noted his sudden absence and turned around. He was staring at the food display in a restaurant window. 

It was a very good one, she had to admit: a pair of chopsticks floated in air with a cascade of soba noodles and delectable seafood ingredients falling down to a fine china plate.

"How come our noodles don't do that?" He demanded.

"Because theirs don't either. It's just a marketing ploy." She was starting to jump every time he had a question like that. It was as though her entire culture was up for judgment by the Kami and coming off as frivolous and stupid. She shook the thought off.

"Marketing ploy?" Inuyasha inquired with raised eyebrows. "I want some."

"Mou, Inuyasha, I'll make you some food as soon as we get home." The sigh with which she said this was the epitome of long suffering.

"You just said ours won't do that," he waggled his fingers in the air in an attempt to simulate floating. "I want some that do that to keep."

Kagome gurgled with deliciously throaty laughter. "You want some plastic restaurant food?"

He nodded, quite serious. "Like that, we could put it in the middle of our table where we put all those shells."

She glowed at him, honestly touched by his easy use of "we" and "our". "I've seen some of those sculptures for sale in the kitchen supply shops in the Ginza," she admitted. "We can get one there if you want. Come on I can see Jijii-Chan from here."

The old man was sweeping the shrine steps, which usually meant that business was a little slow and he wanted to give an air of occupation to the place. Not a school outing day then. The schools frequently arranged day trips to temples and shrines about the city, a thing that Kagome, as the resident of a shrine, had always felt to be an unfair waste of her time. Her opinion of them wasn't improved by the number of either totally abandoned or flat out haunted ones she had been in during her visits to the past but she gamely tried to put a good face on it.

"Tadaima, Jijii-Chan! Any tour buses today?"

"Only one small one. Fat Germans, all very put out by the stairs." The trio glanced up at the steps and shrugged. "I told them of the spiritual progression taken while ascending the steps and pointed out the beer vending machine around the corner when they came back down. The men cheered up anyway." Jijii-Chan swept aimlessly at the leaves scattered on the pavement. "I was thinking of putting in a vending machine to sell things like the Shikon-no-Tama key chains at the top of the shrine steps." 

Both Inuyasha and Kagome winced.

"Good marketing, ne? Get the customers while they are still filled with admiration for the site." Jijii-Chan clapped his hands and rubbed them as if commencing a prayer.

"You mean before they nearly break their necks on the way down." Inuyasha muttered not at all quietly.

Jijii-Chan frowned, "That's why I won't have it sell beer. One must be sensible about these things." Jijii-Chan put a finger in the air and waggled it then bent to retrieve his paper from where it was stashed under the side railing of the steps. "Speaking of being sensible your wedding is coming soon and Inuyasha has yet to obtain any proper clothes for the ceremony. They should look like these." He fished out a splashily printed bridal supplement and pointed to some photos of kimono clad grooms,

"I'll just--" Inuyasha started.

"No you will not!" Jijii-Chan cut in. "You will notice all of these young men are dressed in black with a family crest. Scarlet clothes that have been worn while doing the Kami alone know what are not appropriate to wear during such a ceremony."

Inuyasha tweaked the paper from between the old man's fingers, "Fine," he snapped. "I get right on it."

~*~

"Have I ever told you what a horrendous liar you are?" Kagome asked, leaving the miniature hot spring with a sigh and toweling off vigorously. She looked up from fastening her skirt at Inuyasha where he sat on the bank watching her. They had set up the phone that he had found at Yomiuriland to recharge in Kagome's bedroom. No point in sitting around staring at it so Inuyasha had suggested they go through to his house and see about wedding clothes for him. "You seem to have my shirt."

He grabbed her shirt from the ground and rose, closing the distance between them. "O.K. So I've been trying to get you alone all day. But that doesn't mean I was lying about what we're doing here."

"Throwing down a newsprint picture on the floor and shouting 'I want an outfit for me that's styled like that.' into empty air is just strange, Inuyasha."

"Why? The Kami here are to serve me and through me you. It's not like they can't make the clothes and the crest will be correct. Besides I never said I was only coming here to get clothes."

Kagome drifted a step back from him into the greenery surrounding the pool. "Looks like you got me, Inuyasha." She gave him an arch look and settled on a bank of moss and ferns under a tree.

He raised his eyebrows and smiled as he tossed her shirt carelessly behind him. He leaned over her and began a slow assault. Light kisses to brow… Both eyes…Left cheek…to the pulse point behind her left ear…

Kagome slid her eyes closed and shivered even though the dell was warm and protected. The silken brush of his pale silver hair tickled as he drew his mouth from hers after only the briefest of touches to kiss her right shoulder. His dark brows were tense over his half lidded eyes as his hand drew up from her hip. He pressed the flesh of her breast up and opened his mouth over it, suckling deeply.

Kagome gasped and sighed, moving to cradle his head and body against her, burying her fingers in his hair. He maintained his contact on the breast even as he moved his head to the other, pulling the skin taut until it popped from his mouth. Kagome let out a strangled, groaning yelp, which brought a smile to his lips. 'My responsive little bitch.' He thought affectionately even as he turned his full attention to the other breast, giving it little nips and tugs that had Kagome wriggling as he drifted his hand down to the waistband of her skirt. Endlessly impatient with buttons a quick twist and pull with clawed fingers had the skirt neatly sliced and easily pulled off with everything else. 

"Mou, Inuyasha, they are going to start wondering why I'm always needing skirts at the school store." She murmured as she shifted to help him get rid of the scraps.

"Let's buy a whole bunch of them and then we won't worry about it." he sighed, taking in her heady scent.

"The company would probably contact the school about that. What if we were trying to sell them on E-Bay someth'n?" she asked lazily.

"Japanese school girl skirt pirates? Makes sense." His voice was a deep growling purr. His warm skinned body was a study in smoothly muscled perfection come to life and rampantly aroused. She stared a moment and then swiftly lifted her gaze to his face. His attention was on her but rather lower and she belatedly tried to draw her knees together.

"No" he said thickly, "let me…Kagome!" His face was flushed and his hands gently insistent as he spread her legs more widely spread her moist folds and lifted her hips so he could taste what was there. Inhaling the heady essence that was Kagome he lavished care on the nub of flesh that rapidly stood to attention. A tiny, hidden copy of his own pulsating need. He ran his tongue over her again and again thrusting it into her small opening until a rush of moisture and trembling contractions told him she was ready.

He sat up again, his mouth softened, lips blurred with her secret places. She was gasping unevenly and her hands were fluttering about the bases of his ears with the lightest, most electrifying of touches. He closed his eyes for a moment searching for control, digging his claws into his own palms. He swallowed, 'not enough. Trees, yes, trees are peaceful.' He slowly reopened his eyes to take in the sight of his mate naked and tumbled before him, face and eyes glowing. "O.K. Kagome?"

"Oh, Inuyasha--" She reached for him and he came, knowing just where he wanted to be, swiftly entering her slick folds and sheathing himself in her as he caught her mouth and kissed her again at last.

Kagome felt a rush of wild sensation as they joined, some lack erased. She traded kisses with Inuyasha, surrounded by a curtain of his hair, her hands running down his back of their own volition to cup his buttocks and urge him more tightly into her.

He leaned up on his elbows and pulled back somewhat, "Let's try it like this, Koishii." and transformed again to Kagome's loud astonishment.

A-hem, there will now be an intermission.

~*~

Phone messages:

08:00 hours:

Burr, burr, and click, "Is this you? " came a rather quaintly accented croaking voice over the connection. "Look, I know we did not agree last night. But is this just? The master would not allow it if he knew." A hard breathing pause was audible. "Are you there? I know you know where I am. Please call the detention center. We could talk. 

Faint sounds in the background, "No! I get the phone!" An indistinct voice is reassuring. A decided click follows.

Next message listed at 08:15 hours: 

"This is the Izegawa finance company calling for Yasuku-San. It is urgent that you return my call by 5:00pm tomorrow. My name is…" There were a lot of calls like that.

Jukuryo-San called at 09:00 and 10:00 hours with concerned inquires into her state of health.

Kagome put down the phone and glanced over at Inuyasha. "Eight messages that's the lot." she said. "I wonder who that first caller could be? He sounded kind of familiar in a funny way." Inuyasha nodded thoughtfully and was just reaching to hit the replay button again when the little red phone vibrated with a buzz on the tatami mat between them. He stopped, hand hovering over the phone. The connection initiated and the voice screen came on.

"Ryosei," an unmistakable voice sounded clearly over the line, its accents no less refined than those of the emperor himself, "It has come to my attention that certain of your activities appear to be outside of the scope of my original instruction to you. You will cease them and present yourself at the office in one hour. If you find some difficulty in complying with this I will be more than happy to provide you with transportation."

Inuyasha sat stiffly with his ears flattened against his head and his hand still out-stretched over the phone. The call ended with a distinct click and Kagome rather shakily gathered herself up unplug the phone from the recharge jack and turn it off.

"Well, I bet we can guess who the first caller was too now."

Inuyasha stared at her, eyes showing a light tinge of red. "What the fuck is my brother and Jaken doing here in this time?"

~*~

The gate slid open and Jaken slouched in to plop down on the single bed. He lifted dull eyes to watch the closing of the gate and listlessly noted that his erstwhile roommate seemed to be packing up. "So, you get in contact with your peeps Little Dude?"

Jaken rolled his gooseberry eyes about as he attempted to decode what the weird human had said. "Peeps" he repeated uselessly.

"Ya know, yer bros dude. My ol' lady's pissed at me so I doss here for the night 'an I bail myself out in the A.M. Cheaper than the capsule motels, they feed ya and the cliental is way more interesting. She gets the night away from me I get to kiss an' make up when I get home if you catch my drift."

No, Jaken didn't catch his drift. It didn't sound to him like he wanted to. All of this was too much for him. This whole era seemed to be too much for him. Not the underhandedness and spying; that was second nature. It was the shear volume of the things he had to remember. Sesshoumaru so distant…Well so much more distant. Having to make an appointment just be see him with that yellow haired female…Grrr…her pale skin and blue eyes with that gangling height! He got a cold shiver just thinking about it. And having to face insolence and challenges without flaming them with the Staff of Two Heads!

Jaken froze. That was a problem wasn't it? He had tried to call the main office several times only to have his access denied. Ryosei, the dumb bitch, wasn't answering her phone. He had spent an exhausting hour insisting on phone call after phone call to an increasingly indifferent detention center staff only to be returned to his cell. And he had dropped the Staff of Two Heads!

His reverie was interrupted by his cell mate. "Come on little fishy guy. Ol' Nazukeru will pop you out of here no problem…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Ryosei finally came back to herself out of a deep and disturbed darkness. Her mouth was terribly dry and her tongue and lips prickled as if she had been chewing on something caustic. She rolled weakly onto her side and opened her eyes to a dim light. She groaned a bit and then her eyes snapped wide as she focused on her surroundings. 

Not her room! This was, she raised her head and brushed oddly sticky hair out of her face, slowly sitting up to look about her. This room wasn't her pricey suite at the Four Seasons Tokyo. It was small and done up as an undersea grotto. Even the TV sported a surround of pastel colored starfish. It looked like this was in one of those sleazy love hotels! She choked and spun to look down beside her. There was someone lying there. Whoever it was, was lying very still, face down, and was mostly covered by a twisted sheet.

She stared her companion with dilating eyes seeing a line of red soaking through the sheet. Her immobility lasted only a moment then she scrambled out of the shell-shaped bed and backed away from it. This couldn't be real! She couldn't have left the bar with some dead fellow for a place like this! Her head pounded and she brushed at her hair with shaking hands noting it's sticky texture again. She spotted a mirror and went to it to examine herself. There was a rusty red streak across her forehead. It seemed to be dried blood. But she could feel no injury; a sob escaped her as she realized that the mirror was angled so she could not avoid seeing the still body on the bed behind her.

She unwillingly crept to the side of the bed and twitched aside a corner of the sheet. Male, young, about twenty-five, and he might have been attractive if the face weren't so pale and the eyes so fixed and congealed looking. She stumbled into the bathroom and vomited convulsively. From there it was an easy step to the shower where she scrubbed with her eyes closed, trying to convince herself that the water swirling down the drain wasn't tinged so pink. _No matter it was necessary_. Ryosei finished rinsing and stepped carefully out of the shower to dress in the clothes she'd worn the night before. She decorated her mouth with a red slash of lipstick and prepared to make her escape.

The staff. You must bring us. Ryosei turned mechanically and re-approached the bed. The staff? Here? Yes, she'd had the staff with her in the bar. She had been upset because things had gone wrong, and it seemed it had bitten her. But that wasn't right, the staff was only good. Only there to help. They just needed a little food. Where could it be? _ In the bed…Yes under the covers, next to him. Don't worry; we are waiting. We're good together. Just slide your hand under the sheets, that's it…we're here, we're waiting for you._

She touched the staff and drew it forth; it had grown from pencil size to about two-and-a -half feet long. The hair on the woman's head had a bluish gloss. Both faces had a tinge of pink. The woman's eyes opened slowly and a gentle smile curved her lips. _There you are dear. You look very nice today. Now just come this way, and we'll just stop all those pesky cameras._

Ryosei walked out of the room leaving the door open behind her, the staff of heads held up in front of her eyes. 

~*~

It hadn't taken very long for Inuyasha to decide that the only person he knew to ask for information about his brother was Jukuryo-San himself. Jukuryo, at least, was looking for Ryosei and had the greatest likelihood of having some information on who her associates were. So, it was as Inuyasha trotted down the shrine steps, a querulously inquisitive Kagome in tow, that he encountered the next link in an increasingly tangled chain of circumstances.

The link arrived clinging to the back of a powder blue scooter with an ill-fitting helmet hanging by its strap around his neck and grubby raincoat flapping in the wind behind him. The gangling driver of the bike toed the kickstand down and hit the kill switch letting the continuous thin wail of his passenger fill the suddenly quiet street.

Kagome and Inuyasha stopped in their tracks to stare as the scooter driver dismounted from his bike and doffed his helmet to reveal matching powder blue hair above the beaky face of a westerner. "Hey, folks, the little dude here is look'n for someone at the Higurashi Shrine. Is this it? He's kind'a freaked out by the events of the day and his directions suck totally."

Kagome blinked and cleared her throat before admitting that the address was correct trying not to stare at this bizarre gaijin. Inuyasha ignored their exchange to take a couple of steps over to the scooter and its moaning passenger to peer into his face. "Jaken? You shitbird, is that you?"

Jaken, for it was he, looked up to find himself face to face with a human appearing Inuyasha and gave a shriek as he tumbled off of the back of the bike. Inuyasha almost let him just hit the pavement but caught him by the front of his coat at the last instant and hauled the pudgy little man to dangle nose to nose with him. "Where the hell is my brother? And why are you a human?" he snarled into his wailing captive's face.

The bike's driver looked on in interest as Kagome hurried to intervene. "Inuyasha, Koi, maybe the middle of the street is not the best place to ask these questions!" she glanced back at their audience of one nervously and was not comforted by the other's toothy grin.

"All the more for the grist mill, Sweetie. You go right ahead."

Inuyasha's attention immediately switched and he lowered Jaken's weakly struggling form slightly. "Sweetie?" He frowned, "Kagome, did he just call you a food?" Jaken skittered his toes across the ground in an attempt to gain purchase and emitted a hopeless gurgle as Inuyasha gave an abstracted shake, never taking his attention away from his new focus.

"Hey, go easy on the little dude there, man." the other spoke in a soothing tone but with a ludicrously alarmed expression. "He's the only one I got and if you don't like 'm I can always take him away. 'Sides, his face is turning blue."

A quick glance verified this and Inuyasha eased his grip enough to allow for air exchange. Jaken spluttered and cursed sounding remarkably like the little toad youkai we all know and love.

"You! I knew this was a bad idea from the start." Jaken's fishy eyes swiveled over in the direction of his companion. "This unworthy brother of Sesshoumaru-Sama's is violent and unreasonable. He will be no help!"

Inuyasha's hard knuckles made a lightning swift crack against Jaken's head. "Who's violent and unreasonable? Tell me what Sesshoumaru is doing here! And since when did you ever ask me for help?"

"I have no choice! Sesshoumaru-Sama will not listen! Oh, Sesshoumaru-Sama!" Inhaling a deep breath the little man commenced weeping and carrying in a manner that had Kagome and the blue-haired gaijin by his side in an instant.

"Inuyasha, that's enough." Kagome stated firmly. "We'll never get any answers from him if you keep being so hard on him." She placed a hand somewhat gingerly on Jake's shoulder and began guiding him up the shrine steps with assistance of the tall foreigner leaving Inuyasha to follow in her wake.

"I still want to know what Sesshoumaru thinks he's up to." He muttered to himself.

~*~

The black Bentley moved smoothly through the late afternoon traffic of central Tokyo. Inside the passenger compartment a dispassionate voice spoke into a phone. "He did?…I see…and this was a co-detainee that signed him out?…No, no. I do believe I would like to speak to first shift myself, keep them there for me." Sesshoumaru sighed faintly and cut the connection. The Bentley slowed at the end of a street barricaded by cement pylons to block it to all but pedestrian traffic. Sesshoumaru looked up and flicked an elegantly clawed hand at the two bulky males sitting opposite him. The pair got out promptly and circled around the car to the front. The pylons were sharply wrenched out of the street and placed out of the way with all the apparent difficulty of moving sawhorses. The car proceeded leaving several bystanders studiously minding their own business. Tokyo may be a very civilized city, but some things are better left ignored.. 

Soon the vehicle was easing itself through the extremely narrow streets of one of the few remaining sections of the old city of Edo. Few of the buildings rose above the second story with the exception of one narrow storefront. It was of almost arrestingly poor proportions and stood towering over the area, its façade of crumbling sooty brick tottering forward in a threatening manner.

The car slowed to a stop in front of this edifice completely blocking the alleyway and disgorged four passengers: the two hefty young thugs, a man from the front seat talking into a headset and the elegant form of Sesshoumaru resplendent in a white Armani suite.

Sesshoumaru lowered his sunglasses and surveyed the shop sign, raising his eyebrows faintly over the name before proceeding into the shop. He checked for a moment on the threshold feeling the faint shock of crossing a barrier as the severe opulence of the shop's interior made itself known. It brought to mind the underside of an abalone shell, treasure hidden under an unattractive outer covering. 

"Irashaimase." Soft feminine voices spoke in tandem as the females on either side of the door bowed in greeting. Sesshoumaru gave a good impression of ignoring them as he focused on the darkly suited store manager presented himself with a bow before him. There were traces of his origin as some sort of bird youkai there for those who could to see, but by and large the disguise employed was more effective than those that Sesshoumaru had seen used until now.

"Sir, very happy to see you here. This store is at your disposal for any purchases you may wish to make. Our treasures supply collectors worldwide."

Sesshoumaru studied him silently for a moment, peripherally noting that his communications officer was covertly tapping on his headset and fumbling for the base pack located on his belt. "I am here to speak with your master Junkuryo." He said finally, "I trust he will make himself available."

The other hesitated for the barest instant before replying. He swiftly smiled and bowed from the waist, "At your orders, Sir." and, straightening, led the way to a discreet door in the side wall.

Sesshoumaru looked about him as he followed. There were quiet pools of activity in the display area, oblivious to his arrival. A young upscale couple at one counter were examining lacquered boxes attended by two white-gloved assistants. Beyond, a small knot of businessmen was gathered about a freestanding display, obscuring it from view as he passed by on his way to the door.

His guide stopped at a desk just beyond the door and spoke briefly to the over-permed young woman behind it. She, in her turn, rose and led them down the hall towards an elaborate door at the end of it. 

Sesshoumaru gestured briefly and his bodyguard stepped off to either side of the hallway to assume poses of attention. The door was swung open and Sesshoumaru glanced over one more time to exhibit just the shadow of a frown and shake of a head causing his communications officer to step aside at the last moment as he entered the room.

What confronted him was not really quite what he had expected. The office was large and elegant. The partially disguised bird-youkai behind the desk was very old but not so venerable as his father had been before him. When Sesshoumaru had last had any occasion to have words with that particular opportunistic creature it had been in a rocky eerie above Hakuba Gorge and the subject had concerned the matter of a land dispute which was now some 500 years in the past. This time, Sesshoumaru suspected stolen allegiance and that was something he would not tolerate.

"Jukuryo-San," he intoned with the briefest of nods and tendered his card. Jukuryo accepted the small rectangle and examined it closely, glancing up at Sesshoumaru with a carefully neutral expression before placing it on the desk before him.

"Nishigawa-Sama," he said slowly, "to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"

````````````

Revue! Revue! I find I really enjoy them even when they're complaining about something. At least I know someone actually read it.

Of course, there is my theory about people just printing out each successive chapter and then shredding it to use as litter box filler…Hmmn… Not that bad an idea really…


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Jukuryo looked at Sesshoumaru and had to rapidly realign a number of assumptions he had made about certain business dealings in the very recent past. If a descendant of the Nishigawa family wished to sell, that was one thing, but here was the head of the clan himself. Apparently none the worse for five centuries of wear…'Lucky bastard.'

"Please, sit down." He gestured courteously to the seats facing his desk and took his place behind it. He glanced at Sesshoumaru's business card again as if to verify its contents and lined it up squarely before him on the blotter. 

Sesshoumaru accepted the offered chair gracefully. "I have intruded upon you in search of someone whom we both know."

"A-ah? And who might that be?"

"A young woman; Murakami Ryosei. She's acting as your personal assistant, I believe." He studied the paperweight on the desk as he spoke.

Jukuryo took off his eyeglasses and polished them in an attempt to cover his puzzlement. "I'm sorry to say she has not reported to work today. We tried several times to contact her by phone without result."

"I see, we may have a mutual problem then." Sesshoumaru shifted his attention to a delicately avant-garde print on the wall above Jukuryo's left shoulder. "She's recently been having dealings with an untrustworthy associate of mine. He's the actual focus of my inquiry. For a long time this particular youkai enjoyed my confidence and carried a certain item for me that now seems to have disappeared with him. His association with Ryosei seems to have been closer than I anticipated and now they have both disappeared with the item." Sesshoumaru shifted slightly in his seat. He was finding this admission unpleasant. "I have a great interest in recovering that item and finding that youkai." 

Jukuryo finished fiddling with his glasses and placed them back on his face. "The human girl doesn't matter then?"

"Not much." was the reply but Jukuryo did not miss the clenching of his visitor's fingers as he said it. He did not think that this Inuyoukai took anyone crossing him well at all and that the girl was in as much trouble as the errant youkai.

He cleared his throat, bringing Sesshoumaru's attention back to his face. "And what is the nature of this missing item? Does it have distinguishing characteristics? We will need a sample of its base material and youki to locate it."

"It is a staff with a male and a female mask as its head. It is very old and unique. I cannot give you a sample of its youki but I assure you it is in everyone's best interest that it be returned to me as soon as possible." Sesshoumaru considered what he had just said and expanded it a bit. "That, in addition to the youkai who now carries it."

Jukuryo clasped his hands before him and studied this powerful but, apparently young, youkai lord before him. He truly represented a mystery. He was unquestionably the Nishigawa Sesshoumaru that he had seen as a barely fledgling chick. That fact alone would make him half a millennium old. But, appearance aside, this was no creature with five hundred years of experience under his belt, steely exterior or no. 'Really,' he decided to himself, 'life is wasted on the young.' The thought warmed him in an obscure manner.

"Well, it is true that my family and I specialize in collecting items. I suppose we could search for this troublesome thing for you and let you know where it is." He paused and looked in a measured manner at the powerful creature before him. 

'There is truly no change.' He mused. 'Not the faintest sign of age after five centuries.' This monster before him should be ancient. But he was by all appearances barely reaching his prime. Noting a flicker of restlessness, Jukuryo continued.

"We can do this but I will need an item from the youkai who has it in his possession if I cannot get something associated with the staff itself."

Sesshoumaru nodded and reached into an inner pocket of his suit. "Will this do?" He inquired, flicking a small black scrap of cloth across the desk.

Jukuryo caught it and turned it about, leaning back in his chair to catch the light on the worn cloth better. It had not been treated well and certainly not worn in some time but the shape of it was unmistakable; it was a miniature nobleman's hat. Sized to fit the head of a large doll, it nevertheless showed signs of use. The starch that had stiffened it was all gone now but merely touching it brought a sharp memory of when he had seen the like before.

"You will forgive a old man his wanderings, but this puts me in mind of the day you came to visit my esteemed father, back in the mountains." He lifted his eyes and looked directly at his visitor. "I am correct am I not? The son of the Nishigawa-Sama came on a visit over an old dispute."

The room was still, to be filled by the dry chuckle of the ancient youkai. "I must commend you upon your excellent state of preservation. That land dispute is far in the past and I am beyond such considerations as to who owns what barren scrap of hillside. Pish, I don't even remember the rights of it. But I remember you, my lord, and you haven't changed a hair."

Jukuryo smiled, feeling the other's youki rise around him. "Relax, sir. As I said, those days are long past. I will look for this Staff of Heads for you for old times sake. To see you reminds me of what it was like to be young." He rose, indicating the interview was over. And accompanied his guest to the door. 

"Oh, and one more thing."

Sesshoumaru stopped. "I am negligent," said the old youkai, "I meant to inquire after your family. The name doesn't seem to be gone after all. I was reminded of your clan only recently."

With a long breath Sesshoumaru turned to regard this most annoying old creature. "I have no remaining family in this time."

Jukuryo blinked. "No? No, herm, possibly human branches?" A pause, "I must be mistaken." He smiled beatifically. "Old age you know. Such a trouble to those who suffer it." Straitening his face he spoke briskly. "Now, I must not detain you longer. I'm sure you must be very busy, as must I. You shall have your staff back and your errant retainer to do with as you wish. My guarantee upon it."

Sesshoumaru gave the briefest of nods and stepped from Jukuryo's inner chamber to the anteroom where his men were. That communications problem was going to have to be handled. If another powerful youkai's influence could be used to interrupt radio waves then his network of underlings wasn't going to be as useful as he had hoped.

Emerging from the discrete doorway he was arrested by the sight of what occupied the pedestal that the businessmen had been gathered around when he came in. It was a sculpture of a horse done in glazed pottery in the 'High Tang' style of the 8th century. It was black with a white mane and a green woven saddlecloth and he knew it to be one of a pair. He snapped his head around to the store manger and waved his hand at the horse. "How long have you had this item?"

The manager nodded deferentially, "It only arrived this morning as part of a lot of goods, the only Chinese item in it. The rest are excellent Hein-era antiquities but not really quite up to the quality or age of this piece. It must have been actually bought as an antiquity by its first Japanese owner."

Sesshoumaru gazed at the fool expressionlessly, "It was. Enter a bid for me."

"Sir?"

"Top whatever amount offered by a thousand until close of preliminary bidding. My card." He brought out yet another of the small pieces of pasteboard so ubiquitous in Japan. "Call my agent. I trust that information on provenance is documented at the time of sale."

"Yes sir. However, this seller wishes to remain anonymous. One of the old shrine families you know." The manager was apologetic and jumped when he heard the faint, low rumble of a growl. 

Sesshoumaru thrust the card at the startled attendant and strode out of the building into the early evening air. He breathed in deeply as he re-entered his car; his attendants took their places silently, too well trained to interrupt him in a time of annoyance.

"Inuyasha." The name was a thorn in his side. He had never returned to verify what precisely the misbegotten whelp had done with the Shikon-no-Tama. It had seemed enough to consolidate his hold over the land and then to follow up with his own search for gates to other worlds. He had gotten a dizzying glimpse of the young miko's world before the last battle with Naraku and was hungry to find his own way to it. True, the place that he had seen had been a shrine. It had been on top of a small mount surrounded by this teeming city. But that could have been anywhere, anytime, in 20th century Tokyo.

He had never found a trace of Inuyasha until now. He dropped his eyes to the hands held so carefully still in his lap. There was no question though. The horse in Jukuryo's showroom proved it. He well remembered the day that his father had brought the beautiful pair of horses home and his burning shame and resentment as they were divided between the households of himself and his brother. His father's laughing dismissive voice echoed in his mind. "Let the pup have the black one, he seems to like it well enough. You shall have the roan to place in your house."

"But that baby will only break it father."

"So? I say he shall have it. These horses are brothers as you are and I expect you to remember it."

There was simply no way some distant, mostly human, descendant of Inuyasha's could have access to Inuyasha's own house and treasures. No, the miscreant who was selling his family's heirlooms had to be Inuyasha himself.

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A/N

Short chapter, I know. Having written it and read it over a few times I ended up feeling it stood better alone. Please review and let me know your thoughts. Heh, that gives me control of your minds…Hey!…What do you mean I was still dictating? Stop that!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Jijii-Chan slowly lifted one of the plates free from the wood shavings in the box. The plate was a slightly hollowed-out rectangle done in variegated lacquered wood. "This, you see, is a historic plate belonging to the shrine." He stated

Higurashi-San sighed and shook her head. "No, Papa, you have the wrong box. These are the plates that were used at my wedding, hardly historic." She smiled apologetically at her visitors. They were two ladies who had been suggested to her by one of the shrine families as good, inexpensive, caterers.

Her guests nodded alertly and the older, thin, one seemed about to speak when a considerable disturbance occurred in the front hall. It sounded as though a moaning herd of elephants had barged in but Higurashi-San could hear Kagome's light voice urging someone to mind the step. An instant later an ill-assorted group appeared in the doorway; Kagome and some very tall, blue-haired, European supporting between them a sagging figure draped in an over-sized mackintosh.

The trio staggered unsteadily across the room to dump their noisy burden on the couch were the little man proceeded to double over and cry in earnest. Kagome looked quite harried and shoved her mane of raven hair impatiently out of the way as she tried ineffectually to comfort him.

Inuyasha strode into the room positively radiating annoyance and proceeded to tower over the shrunken bundle of wailing misery on the couch. "Don't waste your time, Kagome, I'll get him talking." He cracked his knuckles enthusiastically, muscles flexing under his red tee.

Using the lightning-fast reflexes of all good Japanese mothers, Higurashi-San intervened before her volatile son-in-law could indulge in any violence. "Inuyasha-Kun, these ladies are here with samples of their cooking to help us decide what we want to serve at the wedding. The little group fell silent and stared in surprise at the two ladies who hopped up, all smiles and bustled into the kitchen to reappear in a flash bearing covered trays.

The box of plates was swiftly scooted under the table and the older lady spoke briskly as the younger swept aside the covers and arranged the numerous little dishes. "Deep fried octopus balls, chicken yaktori, fried tofu, broiled eggplant with minced chicken--Those are tiger eye," she interrupted herself as Jijii-Chan reached for a particularly colorful item, "grilled cuttlefish stuffed with smoked salmon and avocado." She looked about at the now filled table with complacence. "We offer all types of tempura and sushi combo platters, along with wide variety of pickles." She thrust a bowl and chopsticks into the reluctant hands of Jaken. "Miso soup for you, I think."

A nonplussed Inuyasha found himself holding an enormous piece of shrimp tempura as the ladies passed out their wares to everyone in the room and the conversation was reduced to appreciative noises. He took a big bite and chewed thoughtfully as he watched Jaken toy with his miso soup. Higurashi-San had struck up a conversation with the strange-looking blue-haired man and they soon left the room for her kitchen where she kept a small hydroponic garden.

Kagome set to work attempting to sooth Jaken and encourage him to eat. The little man replied to her reluctantly, keeping his head down and stirring at the tiny tofu cubes in his soup with frowning concentration. Jijii-Chan was no help as he appeared to be intent on eating at least one of everything in front of him and Inuyasha had shifted his attention to the two caterers who had him backed into a corner and were plying him with tidbits. He was nodding enthusiastically to whatever it was they were saying and they were smiling broadly at each other. She sighed again in annoyance and looked at the little man beside her. Even though he was apparently human the resemblance to a sullen frog was amazing. She was just about to take the bull by the horns and ask him straight out what had happened when her mother re-entered the room.

"All set, Inuyasha dear?" 

"Hai, they really know how to cook" Inuyasha replied, completely oblivious to the instant affront that his mate exhibited. "Oi, Kagome, You should sign up for cooking lessons. They give those too." He turned to her pointing at the now simpering caterers.

She glared at him, earning a startled look in response as she grabbed up an oyster puff and bit vengefully into it. It was delicious.

"Ooh, Nishigawa-San, you'll turn our heads. So happy everything satisfies. We'll be in touch to set the menu." They gathered their bags and bowed themselves out followed by Kagome's mother and the blue-haired guy.

"We're just out to look at my vegetable patch." Higurashi-San called back over her shoulder as she led the way to the door. She was mildly surprised to find a vaguely familiar old gentleman on the step just in the act of lifting his hand to ring the doorbell when she slid the door open. "Oh! Irashaimase, please come in. They're all in the living room."

There was a good deal of polite shuffling and bowing as group heading out the door made way for Jukuryo-San's entrance. He turned and bowed again as they went out the door, then followed the sound of Inuyasha's voice down the hall. 

"Well, he's going to have to stop sniveling and talk sometime..." Was all he heard before his appearance in the doorway cut off all conversation.

Inuyasha crossed his arms and frowned but Jijii-Chan's face cracked into a smile and he waved invitingly. "Come in! Inuyasha has been finding interesting guests for us. You can help protect me from them."

Jukuryo smiled thinly as he entered and seated himself on the spot that Kagome had rapidly vacated for him. Inuyasha plunked himself down on the tatami mats beside Kagome with an impatient grunt that broadened the corners on Jukuryo's smile as he complimented the spread of food. His appreciative sniffs brought him the odors of the others in the room with him and most especially the peculiar odor of the couch's occupant to his right who was giving vent to soft moans.

Placing his teacup on the crowded table, Jukuryo spoke to Inuyasha. "You are not the only one to have interesting visitors. I had one my self this afternoon. It would be difficult to put a finger on it looking at you but he bore a marked resemblance to your self as well as bearing your family name."

Inuyasha didn't allow his expression to so much as flicker but Kagome turned her head quickly to look at him. "Follows to reason." He replied indifferently. "What did that frozen creep want?"

"He was inquiring after a missing item and the employee that last had it in his possession. Not necessarily in that order." With a bit of a flourish he removed the folded black scrap of material from his breast pocket and spent a moment unfolding it and teasing it into shape before placing it on a nearly empty plate of almond cookies. There it sat, a forlorn representation of a Hein-era nobleman's hat in one-quarter size.

Jaken finally sat stunned into near silence. "He kept it by him all this time?" His voice quavered a bit, sounding fragile. He put a trembling hand out towards the little hat without quite touching it. "But, he throws everything away."

"No, he doesn't." Inuyasha's voice grated abruptly. "He just pretends to throw everything away and then hides it instead, just like every manipulative bastard out there. Including me." He finished sharply, catching Kagome's minatory eye. "Jaken, pass me the fried octopus paste balls, I haven't tried them yet." 

"Well, now this is interesting." Remarked Jukuryo. "If I didn't know better, young Nishigawa, I would think my visitor this afternoon and you really did know each other. But he denies any relations 'in this time.'"

"No reason he should know unless that one talks." Inuyasha responded tartly, pointing at Jaken.

"But what would he know if Jaken talked." Came the gentle prod.

Inuyasha flicked distrustful eyes at his inquisitor but could not find what he considered a real reason for staying concealed anyway. He hated lying, he was too impulsive and was thus very bad at it. He shrugged and in so doing transformed from his human aspect to that of a hanyou. Jaken snarled, staring at the boy who now sat white haired, dog-eared and clawed for all to see. Jukuryo himself was more than a little taken aback by the nearly instantaneous change in appearance and alteration in smell, from that of a human with a trace of demonic heritage to that of nearly full daemon, a powerful one at that.

"That's fascinating. The spell is undetectable" Jukuryo ventured before the irate accents of Jijii-Chan cut him off.

"That's disgraceful! Couldn't you have contained yourself boy? Here is my granddaughter marrying indecently young and the man she chose isn't even fully human. Now how do you expect I feel having some strange creature as a son-in-law when my family has protected this holy shrine from deamonkind for centuries?" The old man must be forgiven; he felt he was being exposed heedlessly before an old friend.

Inuyasha saw Kagome's hurt expression at her grandfather's words out of the corner of his eye and said the first thing that popped into his head. "Old fool- you can't even tell daemons from humans to save your life."

"Oh, yea?" Jijii-Chan bristled self-righteously.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said with a nasty expression. "You wouldn't know a daemon if it kicked you in the butt."

Jijii-Chan gave a stuttering cry of outrage and reached into his hakama to come forth a thick wad of handwritten offuda. There was a rapid flurry of slaps and prayers and every one of the people present in the room found themselves the recipient of at least one. Kagome's fell into her lap. Inuyasha's offuda stuck to his shoulder but he promptly peeled it back off again. Jijii-Chan was startled to see that the one he had plastered on his old friend Jukuryo fizzled for an instant and turned into gray ash but Jaken's response was even more dramatic as he tumbled head first off of the couch and shrank to a quarter of his original size, turning green in the process.

Jaken was on his feet in an instant, grabbing at the little black hat on the table and making a break for the door trailing his shirttails behind him. Inuyasha grabbed him neatly by the back of the shirt before he had taken three steps and hauled the frog youkai back to the table.

"Get your hands off me you unfilial son! You degrade your sire's blood yet more by this unworthy marriage to a human whore! 

"Hey, who's unworthy?" yelled a now thoroughly incensed Kagome.

"Is this nasty little monster insulting my granddaughter?" Jijii-Chan spluttered.

Jukuryo leaned forward over the table at Jaken and let the full personality of an ancient youkai, long steeped in malice and otherworldly power come to bear on the immobilized captive. His crimson eyes blazed above his lenses and the sharp double crescent of his nose and chin jutted forward. "You will refrain from insulting this lady, Dishonest Servant. Have you not stolen from your master? Answer me!"

Jaken melted on the spot and sagged in Inuyasha's grip as best he could all the while emitting squeals of distress. "It's not like that. It's just that Sesshoumaru-Sama will not listen!" The toad youkai wailed desperately.

"You've said that before," snapped an impatient Inuyasha, "now explain it!" His knuckles landed on Jaken's cranium with a hollow sound that can only be rendered as *BONK. * Kagome leaned over interestedly; that sound was a new one. She caved into temptation and gave an experimental rap. *BOP! * Yes it sounded just like a coconut. She was just about to try another while Inuyasha stared in surprise at her when Jaken surrendered.

"O.K., o.k. Stop hitting me! My lord and I have not communicated directly in some time."

"Since when?" Kagome wanted to know, knuckles poised.

"Mind your own business, wench." Sniffed Jaken. The room filled with another echoing *BONK* from Jaken's scull. "Ow, call your bitch off Boy."

"Why you!" *BONK*

"O.K., Kagome, we want him conscious."

"I don't," the girl replied mutinously.

"Oi, Jaken," the hanyou spoke gently as if to a friend. "I can't control her and get a confession from you so talk already."

"It was the fault of you stupid humans." Jaken rolled his eyes accusingly. "You created a disaster in the subway that I was traveling in and my lord did not like the results."

The two oldsters in the room sat up at attention. "Subway! So it was you who set off those sarin gas attacks in '85?" Jijii-Chan exclaimed.

"No, I was not! You have the perpetrator, I was traveling on the subway when it occurred."

Inuyasha scowled and used both hands to angle Jaken's face up to his own. "That was years ago. What were you doing here then?"

"Oaf, I go where my lord goes." The toad youkai's tone eased somewhat as he stared into the hanyou's golden eyes. "But he is displeased with me and I tried to make it up but now I have lost the Staff of Heads." Tears rolled silently down his cheeks.

Inuyasha swiftly let him go, wiping his hands distastefully.

Jukuryo cut in. "You lost--he's looking for it, and you. He's not pleased to have to ask for help."

Jaken hung his head. "It was lost in Yomiuriland Park last night."

"So. It _was_ you." Inuyasha grabbed for his throat with Kagome hanging on to his wrists. "You tried to kill us, you little scum!"

Jukuryo hastily intervened. "Can't let you do that, Nishigawa, Sesshoumaru wants to do that."

"I'll save him the trouble. And whose side are you on anyway?" Inuyasha's words were almost subsumed in his growl.

"Well, for one thing, I still have questions about my employee, Ryosei. Sesshoumaru indicated they were working together."

"They were." Inuyasha declared. "I've got her cell phone. Thought I smelled Jaken where I picked it up but I couldn't believe it,"

"That traitorous bitch!" Jaken wheezed. "She must have taken it. This is bad. This is worse than bad!"

"What's so bad about it?" Inuyasha asked in a reasonable tone of voice. "So she's got a stick that you were fond of."

Jaken snarled contemptuously. "She might feed it. It is very powerful and measly humans shouldn't touch it."

Kagome frowned. "The Staff of Heads? That thing? I've touched it, I clobbered you on the head with it if you don't remember."

Jaken wiped his nose on the dangling sleeve of his shirt. "That was different. You did not feed it and it was attuned to me at the time. Since I have been in this benighted time with my youki suppressed the link is reduced. I no longer control it easily."

Inuyasha growled. "Lying scum--You're just denying responsibility."

"I am not! We must find that human wench. Who knows what she may do if she feeds the staff and can't control it? And she owes me a weeks pay!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryosei: "Do the voices in my head bother you?"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"I can feel it before us. It's somewhere near here, straight ahead." Jaken's voice echoed off of the ally way wall in an unpleasant manner. It seemed to repeat and finally settle into a ground-shaking roar of traffic heard from some distance back. They had left the others at the house and taken to the rooftops under Jaken's direction, apparently following the subway lines to this point.

Kagome shivered in the light drizzle and looked behind her in the darkness. The lighted streets seemed very far back and the crack of night sky between the buildings very far above. This was a part of town she'd never been in. It was over the fence at the station and down a side street near the nightclub district, Roppongi. She frowned in puzzlement, Inuyasha was right, exactly how long had Jaken and Sesshoumaru been here in this time? The knowledge that Jaken displayed of this city was not that of someone who had been here for a few weeks, but twenty years?

Jaken had insisted that they would find Sesshoumaru's missing staff if they went to the places that Ryosei usually went. When they had arrived here they had followed his lead to where he met her twice a week for exchanges of information. Who would've guessed that the spot those two would pick would be the most dark, dank, noisome, and just plain unsafe-looking ally way in the whole of this notorious area? It seemed to be a dead end too.

Kagome shook her head at her own thoughts. 'Just about anybody would've guessed that.'

Inuyasha stopped at the dead end. There was a pile of crates against a soot-blackened wall and in the most shadowed corner an uneven mouth to an old sewer entrance. Inuyasha pointed at the dark opening, "You really don't mean going down that do you? It's either down that hole or you've led us the wrong way and we should be beyond this blank wall." He slapped at wet brick with his clawed hand in illustration.

He had refused to do anything tonight to disguise himself beyond retaining the modern clothing with human ears and even that was under protest. He was becoming intransigent under stress as usual.

"Look, I'm just going by how I feel. I feel an open path between the Staff of Heads and me. That means no walls." Jaken's hat had wilted even further in the rain and the now oversized shirt he wore was becoming translucent, shin showing green, as he got wet. Despite this, the toad youkai seemed to be thriving in the dank atmosphere and swelling with confidence.

Inuyasha swung back and crouched to look the toad youkai right in the face. "You're not trying to tell me that you really do know exactly where this staff thing is? I thought you said you no longer had an association with it." His eyes glowed dark amber in the twilight of the stony passage. 

Jaken drew back and hissed, frowning. "I told you my hold was tenuous and I no longer control it so easily. I still know where it is, Asshole."  


There was a faint echoing rumble, like that of a distantly heard explosion and rock dust sifted down to land disturbing a greasy puddle on the pavement. Kagome shielded her face and stepped back. Inuyasha ducked down and shoved Jaken forward into the darkness, a hand fisted in the back of his shirt. He paused at the opening, his free hand outstretched, and palm up. "Kagome, don't dawdle." She caught up fast enough, grasping his hand and following him as ever, into the dark.

Five minutes of scrambling going later and there was the distinct rumble of another blast. The tunnel itself was some kind of oversight of urban construction; built and over built countless times. They could feel the concrete shifting above them and the screeching halt of traffic. 

"What the fuck?" Muttered the hanyou as a greenish flare showed briefly through unseen crevices.

"I told you the staff was dangerous." Jaken snapped angrily from where he was in between the other two, attempting to lift the tails of his shirt out of the muddy water that he was in. 

"You didn't say she would blow everyone up." Kagome pointed out.

"Jaken, you better tell me what this thing can do!"

"Feh!" Jaken responded. He stopped in the middle of the cramped and rocky passage and drew to his full height (all two feet of it). "This item is Sesshoumaru-Sama's, and not for a lowly hanyou such as yourself to know anything about!"

"You crap! Tell me what it can do." Inuyasha turned his face to stare intensely along the narrow passage. "If I don't know what to expect I can't really protect, you can I?" His fingers flexed, claws clicking as he moved away.

"It can open world gates." Jaken responded reluctantly with a fine mixture of self-importance and resentment. 

Inuyasha paused momentarily midstride. "Fantastic, just what we need." He resumed his rapid movement; shoving Jaken forward and half dragging, half lifting Kagome over unseen obstructions (They never missed a beat, those two, like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, they responded perfectly to each other, she following his lead). Look, Jaken, could you tell me why you needed to kill me so bad that you would even lose such an item?"  


"You lost--" Jaken spluttered there for a moment in his anger, then recovered himself. " You lost I don't know how many items in your fight against Naraku. I don't see why I should be blamed for loosing only one."

They were now to the end of the passage and there was a set of blocks leading upwards. They both could hear the sound of sirens and some kind of disturbance as they approached the nighttime Tokyo streets. 

Inuyasha looked up sighing at the angle of the wall and the tight fit that they would have to go through to get out topside. "I'll have to push you out in front of me." he said looking at Jaken. "Don't go anywhere when you reach the street." 

"Don't worry," snarled Jaken "I still need your help."

Inuyasha lifted the toad youkai by his ankles and supported him and then Kagome on their way out.

"Besides," Inuyasha continued as he poked his head out of the ground following them into a weed-covered ditch, under a strangely empty roadway in the center of Tokyo's Roppanogi district. "In Naraku we were dealing with an opponent that could transform himself endlessly and leave offspring like an octopus losses tentacles."

Jaken resettled his hat a little more straightly on his head and sniffed rain into his nostrils. "Now you have an opponent who can bend time and space," he said as the little hat subsided wetly to the other side. 

Kagome looked about under dripping bangs. The passage had cut off several city blocks and placed them in the centre of the nightclub district. The lights were on but no one was there. Brilliant neon marquees lit wet streets that were bare of anything but a few parked cars. At night this was normally one of the busiest sections of Tokyo. Mostly what movement she could see were the flashing reflections of police strobes off of some windows at the end of the block. A riot? 

"You ass!!" Inuyasha had to squirm on his elbows for an instant, shifting his hips to get through the narrow opening. "Sesshoumaru and I are not out to destroy the world, only each other." With a grunt he got completely out and onto the culvert and was scrambling to regain his balance. "I'm not so sure about wanting to do that anymore either." He ignored the rips in his clothing and moved the tatty old katana from where it was slung on his back to a more accessible location at his waist. "If he challenges me too far…well, we may both end up doing some things we really don't want. But I am damned sure my brother has no intentions of doing anything at your behest."

Jaken didn't respond, turning his back, but he did wait until the hanyou had caught up with him before moving on down the street. 

Kagome, of course, had never been to Roppongi after dark and looked about her with as much interest as the youkai. Many of the restaurant and bar doors stood open and she craned her neck looking into establishments where upset chars and abandoned drinks seemed to be the rule. Finally, the others stopped out side of a place that had Doric columns flanking the door.

Inuyasha dropped to the pavement briefly and come up again emitting sharp sneezes. "Hard to say." He said, speaking to Jaken. "These dammed people and their smoke sticks! The stuff gets right up my nose."

Jaken sighed and said, "Yes, terrible habit. Don't ever get into it. But I feel more intense jaki from this doorway than the others."

The sound of heavy footsteps from several sets of feet echoed up the street and all three moved quickly through the doorway and down the short flight of steps to the restaurant beyond.

It was a strange place with circular tables scattered about bearing huge platters of unidentifiable food, unfinished drinks and bottles, still-burning cigarettes, and, in one case, a man's necktie. A strange music filled the air and in the centre of the room was a lit stage covered in a litter of broken dinner plates. Racks of intact plates were waiting off to the sides.

Inuyasha paused and sounded out the sign next to the stage; "Play Greek with your dining pleasure…Plate-braking competition tonight." He stood a moment in thought. "You know, Kagome, Shippou would like to know that this game exists." He remarked turning to find the girl gone from his side and the toad youkai standing next to one of the tables, a purloined cigarette dangling from his lip as he poured something from one of the bottles into a dirty glass.

"Kagome?"

Jaken took a swig of his drink and shivered, eyes watering. "Whoa, retsina. Takes your teeth straight down your throat. Girls' in the bathroom." He said briefly with a quick stab of his cigarette in the right direction.

Inuyasha moved quickly to meet her as she opened the door and stuck her head out to beckon to him. "Inuyasha! I know she's been here."

"How?"

Kagome glanced beyond him at the empty restaurant and pointed behind her at the women's restroom. "In there, under the sink."

Inuyasha pushed the door open.

Kagome was behind him and indicated a small trashcan under the bench-like sink. "Wait." She breathed into his ear." He stilled himself and they waited, pressed comfortingly together. After about five minutes six eyes on narrow pink stalks slowly raised above the rim of the trashcan like an uneven field of daisies.

'Well, now, that's pretty gross.' Inuyasha thought. "That's no youkai I've ever seen."

He could feel the girl nodding her head vigorously against his shoulder as the eye stalks instantly disappeared below the rim of the can. "Ryosei must be opening gates of some sort but I think that's a space alien."

"A what who? Oh, never mind." 

"Maybe it's o.k. Maybe it's shy."

At that instant the trash can burst and a towering pink blob overflowed it and surged upwards. The delicate eyestalks writhed above a face characterized by an open, drooling mouth with ten-inch transparent fangs. Like fish fangs, with extra slime, they glittered in the spray from a broken faucet.

Inuyasha jumped back, wedging Kagome between him and the wall. He drew Tetsusaiga and the blade transformed in a flash. The towering blob showed no recognition of the thing as a weapon though and slithered towards them.

"Speak! This will kill you if you do not. What are you doing here?" Inuyasha made a feint in the creatures' direction that made it draw back slightly. It made some globbering sounds as it moved but did not appear to understand Inuyasha. 

"I don't think this thing wants to talk." Kagome quavered nervously.

Inuyasha had reached the same conclusion and thrust his katana into the tile floor of the bathroom as the creature made a lightning-swift grab at him with its dripping mouth. He slashed it with his claws and tore it into two pieces, which fell to the floor and began to smoke. 

Kagome clapped her hand over her nose and mouth and Inuyasha threw his arm across his face but he could not avoid getting a lungful of the smoke. It smelled incongruously of violets.

Jaken proved to be hiding behind the table he had been at, bottle in hand, and Inuyasha couldn't help but notice that he was smelling distinctly like a pine tree that had been hit with a fish. He grabbed the bottle out of the little toad youkai's hand and tossed it across the room. "She's not here but she's been here and playing games with that staff. Come on, let's get going."

"Hey, my bottle!"

"No, that stuff stinks like pine sap. Stick to business." Impatiently, the hanyou led the way across the restaurant and though the swinging doors into the kitchen. The smells here were powerful but he felt he had Ryosei's scent now and he moved swiftly to the rear exit where he came across a clear scent marking on the wood doorframe.

The door opened onto yet another alley but they could hear the sound of sirens nearby and the confused murmur of human voices. Jaken stiffened, wiping his nose, and eased forward. "She's here. She's got to be, I can feel the staff. Oh, she's fed it. She's fed it all right. I can feel its jaki; it's had human blood, a lot of it. It must be in control now." He stopped and whimpered softly to himself. "Sesshoumaru-Sama will not be pleased with this one."

Inuyasha grunted, "Well, did you really think he was going to be happy?"

The toad youkai cast a venomous look over his shoulder and darted around the corner before the hanyou could catch him. Kagome gasped and they both plunged around the corner to be brought up short. They had found their quarry. She was standing outlined in distant flashes of light against the surrounding darkness at the end of the alley.

"Ryosei!" Jaken hissed.

She turned, raising the staff almost negligently…

~*~

To be continued.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Sesshoumaru stepped into his study, dressed in a yukata of white cotton that had a faint pattern of maroon leaves scattered asymmetrically across the fabric. 

He was restless although he did not let his face show it. It showed in the way he moved about the room without purpose rather than sitting still. It showed in the way he craved distraction rather than meditation, glancing at the TV, waiting for the hour marked as ten on the clock on the wall to turn the set on and watch the human news. He had noted this tendency over the past few years and had alternately tried to quell it or to justify it to himself as a needed source of information. He could not deceive himself though; it was a distraction from his thoughts. 

Enough, he would not watch the news. 

This decision having been made, he moved to rest in the chair he had commissioned from a Danish designer and caused to be covered with the tanned hide of a dragon youkai that had been his first kill as an adult. He remembered the day: the carcass fairly intact and smoking in the morning sun, his father decreeing that the soft, dark, hide of its underbelly be stripped and made into boots for his son. There had been a lot left over and rather than passing portions around to his favoured retainers to make boots of their own, Sesshoumaru had kept it. 

He stroked the hide absently, feeling its smooth suppleness, its delicately variegated texture. That decision to keep the hide had caused resentment and his father had frowned when he had heard of it. But what was done was done and the unused hide had rested in Sesshoumaru's private household until he had come to this time and had it made up. His father had staged a competition instead, with rich prizes given in the names of both of his sons. Thus, while healing one breach, the Inutashio had unknowingly driven a wedge deeper into one of his own. 

What the Inutashio had been thinking when he took the hanyou whelp's human mother as a life mate was a matter of constant speculation. And her noble family had been equally dismayed. They did not appreciate regular visits from a son-in-law that came accompanied by all sorts of paranormal disturbances. Sesshoumaru had wasted a good deal of time in the past trying to prove to himself the weakness and inferiority of that half-breed son of his father's but had ultimately failed.

Rejected by both his youkai and human clans, Inuyasha had nevertheless won associates of power. Even being sealed had not kept him down for long. His youkai power was as strong as anything Sesshoumaru had ever seen but was conflicted by his human heart. Sesshoumaru wondered how he had fared. Was this the time period of that human girl he had taken as mate? If so, why was he selling off his possessions?

Sesshoumaru shook his head. The entire day had been unproductive: By this time, he had fully expected to have had Murakami Ryosei in for inquiries as to why she had chosen to associate herself with Jaken. Jaken had been in his hands last midnight only to slip away in the dawn: a piece of unpardonable negligence. And, to top it all off, he, Sesshoumaru, had never retrieved the Staff of Heads from that benighted failure of a retainer.

The clock on the wall struck ten in mellow notes and Sesshoumaru, badly in need of distraction, picked up the remote and turned on the news.

~*~

Ryosei stood at the end of the intersecting alleyway, the Staff of Heads raised up in one hand. Beyond her the strobe of police lights and the murmur of people told them that they were close to were the crowd was, having headed towards them up the narrow net of back alleys. Jaken stood facing her, almost invisible in the darkness. 

Kagome squinted, trying to make out Ryosei's face. She could see the outline of a cheek and the glimmer of widely opened eyes. The Staff of Heads was held with the old man's face pointing in Jaken's direction. Kagome inhaled softly, hardly daring to breathe as she stole a glance at the hanyou beside her. She had seen that head in action and a blast of fire was something that she didn't want to think about. Inuyasha hand dropped his human aspect entirely, apparently wanting the increased senses of smell and hearing that came with his youkai power.

"Ryosei!" Jaken hissed again. "You've fed it haven't you? Naughty girl, playing with things you know nothing about."

The figure at the end of the alley shifted from foot to foot uncertainly. "Jaken, is that you? You're so short."

Jaken sniffed, offended. "Of course it is. And that's my staff."

"What is this thing, Jaken?" The staff was lowered slightly. "Why does it sing to me?" A hand was raised to her face. "I'm so tired. They talk and talk in my mind but they don't make any sense. All about the proper gate and the need to get there, and the food. Blood, Jaken, they want blood." Her voice was cracked and exhausted-sounding.

Jaken's voice took on a gentle, wheedling, tone. "That's a tricky old thing, that is. You don't want to go listening to it overmuch. How about you pass it to old Jaken and I'll see to it that it's taken care of and you needn't bother about it again. It's enough to wear a young girl like yourself right out, that it will." Jaken extended his clawed little hand, reaching for the staff but the girl drew back from him, raising the staff out of reach.

"No!" She gasped. "You just want to take it." She lifted her head and stared about vacantly. "They say you just want them back! To seal their power and make them sleep again." She snapped her head down and pointed at Jaken. "You were the one starving them!"

Jaken snarled and leapt for the end of the staff, coming surprisingly close to grasping it. 

Ryosei shrieked and gripped the staff with both hands. The old man's face seemed to light up, its eyes flicking open, as she turned it to face the little toad youkai.

Jaken made an odd, sweeping, gesture and shouted "Avert!" as the jaw of the puppet dropped open and a powerful sheet of flame burst forth.

Kagome found herself jammed face first into the dank wall of the alleyway as Inuyasha spun both her and himself back around the corner and pressed her into the wall. He was shielding her face with the palm of his hand and had his back to the flame, but she could not miss the reflexive jerk and strangled cry as he reacted to the searing heat. She could feel a blast of hot air around her ankles.

She pressed her head backwards against him in order to speak. "Inuyasha! Move further back, you don't have your fire rat!"

The only verbal response she got was a grunt, but he did scoot them further along the wall and away from the fire bath occurring in the intersecting alleyway. She spared a thought for the toad youkai but could not let herself consider his fate too closely.

The glow faded and Inuyasha eased up slightly on his pressure against her back. She could smell the sickening odour of crisped skin and hair but he seemed to be moving smoothly.

She was about to ask how he was when she was stunned into silence by the sound of Jaken's voice. Shaky, but obviously still alive, the toad youkai spoke in tones of disgust.

"Gormless Wench, do you think to use my own weapon against me?"

There was a clatter and a gasp audible as if the young woman, Ryosei, was trying to struggle with something followed by an odd popping noise.

"No!" Jaken's voice sounded out sharply as both Inuyasha and Kagome plunged back to the alleyway corner to see what had occurred. 

The sight that met their eyes was enough to unsettle anyone, even those who were as used to the bizarre as those two undoubtedly were. A greenish light suffused the area. Kagome could feel her hair lift as she felt a mild static charge crawling swiftly up her legs. She could see Ryosei lit by a green glare, her hair floating on unseen currants as she held the staff above her head, woman's face forward. Jaken was a shadow against a field of light. An arm was up to shield his eyes but his other hand was still outstretched towards the staff.

He spoke. "By my right, come to me, I invoke your master." His hand stretched even further forwards, if that were possible.

Ryosei stumbled a bit, the staff twisting in her hands. "No! You will only re-confine us!" She brought out in a tortured sob. She hunched her shoulders forward, the staff still stiffly above her head and she gave a motion like a stir, for an upside-down pot.

Inuyasha started forward, an odd premonition of what would be happening running through his mind. "Saké Girl, you don't want to use that!" He cried out, hoping to distract her for a vital instant.

She lifted her head and saw the hanyou and in the same moment recognized the handsome young man she had wanted so much to know about. He was part of this too. Not even human, a freak. Everything was some kind of lie. "This is you!" She yelled, suddenly regaining her own personality, "you've got to be at the bottom of this!"

Inuyasha executed a deft halt and spin to dive straight back around the corner and catch Kagome with an arm looped around her stomach to bring her down to the pavement. A furious blast of flame followed on his heels.

Kagome gasped like a landed fish, thoroughly winded, trying to drag air into her abused lungs. Couldn't he find a way of sending her flying without knocking the wind out of her? The sensation was always horrible and she couldn't act when she couldn't breathe.

There was a shout and the sound of a furious scuffle from around the corner and then everything lit up in a glowing green. Worms of crawling green light seemed to be outlining anything at all that had any sort of edge; the dumpster, the concrete edge of the step just inches past her head, the very corners of the bricks.

Again Kagome could feel an electrostatic charge, but this time it intensified with a peculiar sound as if a chorus a thousand well trained vocalists had suddenly said the word "Whop." She was breathing a little easier as Inuyasha helped her to her feet and led the way back down the alley in search of the others. At the corner they found Jaken and Ryosei nowhere in sight. A large green ball of light hung in midair but appeared to be swiftly contracting into nothingness. Inuyasha and Kagome edged warily past it, not wanting to be sucked though into any alternate universes that might be contained therein and headed towards the main street where they hoped to mingle with the crowd whose roaring murmur they could hear.

They had almost reached the end when the dimming green light behind them suddenly flared brightly and emitted another "Whop" sound. Inuyasha looked behind them and with a shocked oath broke into a run dragging a startled Kagome behind him.

A buzzing sound filled the air and Kagome risked her footing for a glance over her shoulder. What she saw caused her to redouble her pace and she was well in the lead of Inuyasha as they burst forth from the alley to the pavement beyond. 

Inuyasha immediately dropped Kagome's hand and turned, drawing Tetsusaiga to confront a swarm of flying insects the size of small birds. They were still in the evacuated area, flashing patrol cars and spectators several hundred feet away as the murderous-looking insects began to emerge from the mouth of the alley. Inuyasha had seen what creatures like this could do when let loose on a crowd of helpless humans and didn't see any choice in the matter. With a momentary focus of concentration he invoked the Kaze-no-Kizu and blasted away the swarming insects and an appreciable portion of brick wall from the corner of a convenience store.

The echoes of the blast rolled down the street and Inuyasha waited only an instant before urging Kagome onto his back so he could make for the roofs and get away from the area. Kagome spoke breathlessly into his ears as he gathered himself for another powerful jump.

"Do you think they got us on tape?"

~*~

Sesshoumaru watched the news and was rapidly transfixed by a brief visual that was presented. It showed clouds in a darkened night sky moving in a lazy vortex above crowded buildings. The jerking nervousness of his fingers caused him to hit the mute button for an instant but he rapidly got the announcer's voice back up again.

"In a breaking news story, there are reports of freak thunderstorms and incidents of the meteorological phenomenon known as St. Elmo's fire in Roppongi. The incidents have caused chaos and a general evacuation of the district. Our reporter Hinoto Junpei is live on the scene. Over to you, Hinoto-San." 

The shot switched to that of a young man speaking excitedly into his microphone. Behind him was a neon-lit street with a police cordon across it hold back a large crowd of spectators.

"When NHK News arrived here in Roppongi we came in response to reports of a freak thunderstorm that was causing St. Elmo's fire to outline buildings and even invade some businesses. But the real story is much stranger than that. What seems to be a wave of mass hysteria has local residents reporting sightings of deformed bugs and animals wandering the streets."

He turned and gestured to someone off camera and a young man in a business suit came into view. "I have with me Suntori Yamcha Who states that he was there when the incident began."

Yamcha was more than ready to talk and leaned over to the microphone without prompting. "Yes, I was. My girlfriend and I were waiting to get a table at our restaurant when this huge…"

A disturbance behind him cut him off and the camera panned swiftly away to focus on the mouth of an alley some distance down the empty street beyond the patrol cars. Out of a brilliant greenish glare a couple of running figures could be discerned. A hurried adjustment in focus brought the startled face of a young man looking over his shoulder directly towards the camera, eyes wide and head and shoulders surrounded in swinging white hair. It was only an instant before he turned away and took a ready stance holding an enormous sword before him and something black and swarming burst out of the alley.

The camera recorded a bright flash of light and went dead as the visual returned to a stunned-looking news anchor behind the city desk. There were anxious questions and reassurances of safety on the parts of the news crew but visuals could not be brought back up until the spare camera could be started.

Sesshoumaru let the sound wash over him unnoticed as he stared sightlessly at the screen. He now had a very good idea of where both his brother and his staff had at least been just a few moments ago. His attention was drawn back to the screen as NHK proceeded to replay the video clip to the sound of confused commentary. One of many such replays through the night.

~*~

Reviews would be so nice.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17   
  
  
  
They both were still sleepy when they stumbled down the stairs in search of breakfast the next morning. Kagome was wearing her school uniform but Inuyasha had opted for a baggy white tee and a pair of grey sweatpants. "Jeans are stupid." had been his only reply when Kagome had asked him, but one look in the trashcan had revealed the jeans he had worn last night with a broad rip right up the backside. They were definitely not up to the demands of Inuyasha's powerful movements.   
  
Higurashi-San was serving up a western-style breakfast of ham and eggs and Souta was already at the table wolfing it down when they arrived. Jijii-Chan was in the living room, the communicating door through into the kitchen open as he sat flipping channels with his remote.   
  
Inuyasha dug into the food with his usual alacrity, with no more acknowledgement than an appreciative grunt. Higurashi-San appeared pleased anyway and started on another mess of eggs to keep up with what was obviously going to be a two-serving meal.   
  
Suddenly, the muted sound of the living-room TV shot up in volume to a level where the occupants of the house had no choice but to hear it: "As a result of some disturbing developments last night the following school districts have been closed for the day and all government offices are placed on an essential personnel only roster." There followed a long list of central Tokyo chomes (administrative neighbourhoods), which included the schools of both Higurashi children. Souta reacted by throwing down his chopsticks and grabbing his juice to go and finish it in the living room with the TV while Kagome sat with a piece of rolled ham suspended in front of her mouth and a 'deer in caught in the headlights' look on her face. Inuyasha paused briefly to glance at her but resumed eating almost immediately, ears swivelled firmly to catch the entire report.   
  
Higurashi-San quietly replenished Inuyasha's plate before moving to Kagome and gently tweaking the chopsticks with their piece of ham out of her stiffened fingers. Kagome drew her attention back to her mother who smiled reassuringly before saying; "I was up all night and have been following the news reports. Don't worry too much. There have been some bites and panicked people but no one's been killed. It looks as though Inuyasha got the really dangerous ones last night."   
  
"You saw that?" Kagome questioned.   
  
"Oh, yes. See, there it is again."   
  
Kagome hopped up from the table to see the revealing tape from last night with its clear image of Inuyasha's hanyou face, ears perked and eyes flashing as he looked directly over his shoulder at the camera and then turned away to face the swarm exploding from the hellishly-lit alley-way behind him.   
  
"That's a good photo." pronounced Jijii-Chan, muting the sound. "That camera man should be promoted."   
  
Kagome shivered as she heard Inuyasha's faint rumble of a growl behind her from where he still sat at the table. Her mother's light voice interrupted him, calling her back to sit down again.   
  
Inuyasha was sitting frowning down at his plate as if it had insulted him in some terrible way but flicked his eyes up at Kagome as she resumed her seat. "I don't think I can kill everything that got through. I don't think I can protect a whole city from an infestation of mini-monsters," he said in an undertone, his face was shadowed and he stirred at his scrambled eggs in a manner that almost returned them to liquid. There was a repetitive light *caching* from his plate from where his chopsticks hit it.   
  
Higurashi-San laughed a little, as she replied, "Of course not! How could you since the gate may have let any number of things through? You'll have to stop it at its source." She finally took her own seat and nursed a cup of tea between her hands. The pair across the table from her stared at her in puzzlement.   
  
"But, Mama, how could you know?"   
  
"Oh," answered the girl's mother, "I listened - after asking a few questions. That blue-haired man, the one who calls himself Nazukeru? Now, we know that can't be his real name." She laughed a little again. "Well, his real name is Alfred P. Doolittle and he grew up in Cheapside of Welsh and English extraction." She pronounced the English words carefully and with (had Kagome only known) surprisingly little accent. In her youth, Higurashi-San had spent a year or two as an interpreter for English-speaking travellers. Pity her reading of English classics wasn't up to snuff.   
  
"He writes for an internet magazine on the paranormal on the Far-East beat. He was very excited by what was on the TV last night and said that several inter-dimensional gates had been opened in quick succession but only for brief periods of time each. He thought the last one had to have drained most of the power available to whatever was doing it and that it would have to be recharged. He wondered what the operator could be searching for."   
  
Kagome stared at her mother in dismay. "And you believed him?"   
  
"Why not dear? You travel though time and are wedded to a daemon after all." Said her mother. Kagome turned her head to encounter Inuyasha's sardonic gaze. He was resting his cheek on one fist and flicked his ears at her in an annoying manner. She blushed painfully but could not think of anything to say.   
  
"Well, if you two are home today then when am I going to see this appropriate wedding outfit that Inuyasha promised?" Jijii-Chan had tired of the TV and now hunched in the doorway like an irritable gnome. "How 'bout that? You two could pitch in with some of these wedding preparations, you know." He seemed ready to go on for some time to come.   
  
A hard scrape of both the table and a chair on the floor announced Inuyasha's rising and Kagome deftly reached out in time to catch the falling chair while Higurashi-San fended off the table with her hands. Good thing that the old shrine residence had stone flagging on its ground floors, as linoleum would never have made it.   
  
"Do you need to study for those tesuto things of yours, Kagome?" Inuyasha inquired in an oddly polite voice.   
  
She couldn't help but smile; he should know that answer by now. "Hai, please give me a moment to go get my books." He nodded curtly and stood, arms folded, staring through the communicating door at the TV where images of a few of the Home Guard who appeared to be teasing something in an elaborate rat trap.   
  
Whatever it was looked like a bald blue-colored chicken and had a razor-sharp beak. There was a flurry of movement and several of the guards jumped back. He could see a tip of blood on the thing's beak and smiled humourlessly; should teach them to be more cautious. Humans in his time had more proper respect for the unknown.   
  
  
~*~   
  
Kagome looked behind her as she found herself walking down the familiar narrow path to Inuyasha's home. Should she have reversed her steps the only thing she would have found was the path disgorging straight back onto Inuyasha's doorstep, as it were. Only Inuyasha held the key to this place.   
  
That was probably why his actions in the kitchen had astonished her so. He had actually just stood there in the sight of everyone and pulled out a tiny mesh bag he had hung around his neck. From that he plucked out a pebble of no intrinsic value to toss down and step on as he held her hand firmly in his own. They had been instantly transported as usual but that was the first time he'd ever come even close to revealing what he could do. His only comment had been to tell her that her mother had made the bag for him at his request. After all, trying to keep chips of stone and wood in contact with his skin under jeans and a tee shirt had not worked. All she could think was that he'd gotten pebbles in his shorts, which made her snort. He wouldn't talk to her after that.   
  
Did that mean he was coming to trust her family? She certainly hoped so. As she turned these things over in her mind she followed him down the narrow path to the house. Perhaps it was the timeless quality of the place, or rather, the greatly slowed movement of time here, that caused it to appear to move so slowly backwards through a day of its own. When Kagome had first seen the exquisite little house it had been a perpetual early twilight. But now they moved through the last light of a sunset afternoon.   
  
It was no good asking Inuyasha about such things. He seemed to have a disinclination to even discuss the basics of how such a thing could even exist after the first night that they had shared, here, in this most private of places.   
  
As it was, he split off to do his own thing in the spinney of woods while Kagome advanced into the house, letting her pack of books slide down her arm In the entry to thump gently on the floor. She knelt down next to it and fished out her long-neglected math book and some paper before moving on stocking-covered feet down the gleaming entry hall to her favourite room.   
  
The room was at the back of the house and smaller than the others, projecting in a neat square out into the garden over a Koi pond. The wall screens could be drawn back on all three sides so that it formed a kind of very well appointed porch. It was peaceful enough that whenever Inuyasha came to sit with her there he inevitably fell asleep. There were shelved chests bearing drawers full of old scrolls and antique writing utensils along the back wall and Kagome found it all in all to be a perfect study spot, using it often.   
  
She settled down happily enough, knowing that Inuyasha couldn't be far and would be in a better mood when he reappeared. It wasn't too long, however, before she found that her pen was running out of ink. She remembered leaving a spare in one of the scroll filled drawers and went to look for it.   
  
The first drawer she touched didn't feel right as she tugged it open by its pull. Gone were the scrolls that had weighted it down. The second drawer held nothing but her pen, rolling around in its interior and the third drawer held nothing but a broken fan. She started pulling open the other drawers rather frantically but they were full and just as she had remembered them.   
  
For some reason this made her feel awfully suspicious. Jijii-Chan had not explained what the "small lot of goods" that he and Inuyasha had found in the shrine were. With a faint, nauseated, feeling of panic she moved from room to room. There were occasional items missing from everywhere. Even the Tang horse was gone.   
  
She sniffed, she liked the horse. What had those two been doing? She wiped at an eye, seeing a ghostly pale face for an instant out of the corner of it. The pages of her math book riffled by themselves and the steady note of the bamboo tipper stopped and then rapped forward violently a couple of times.   
  
Kagome knew it was the house kamis. The spirits had to find their own way to speak to her and the last time she had been here she had not even entered the house. A little find, Jijii-Chan had said. All that money. She inhaled through her diaphragm and dropped her voice to bellow, "INU-YA-SHAAAA!"   
  
He popped in over the porch railing in a fast roll that had him back-pedalling before he crashed into her. He was wearing nothing but his fundoushi and had apparently been preparing to take a bath. She did not let this deter her.   
  
"What is this?" she bellowed at the top of her lungs. "Why is so much stuff missing?!"   
  
He was in a wary stance before her, the lean perfection of his body surrounded by the shimmering curtain of his hip-length hair. The pupils of his eyes were narrowed down to the merest slits, giving an appearance of molten gold.   
  
Didn't affect her a bit. She could tell he was going to try to lie.   
  
"You!" She pointed a stiffened finger at him. His eyes almost crossed as it nearly touched his nose. "You and Jijii-Chan! I should have known better." She spun and dramatically pulled the emptied drawers straight out of the chest and held the last one up by its ring-pull. "I hope you two got a good price for these on the black market!"   
  
She had another thought and paced towards him slowly, drawer swinging slowly from an out stretched fingertip. "How did you do it? Or did you take the fact that they weren't old as a loss?" She spoke more softly this time and he answered with his eyes on that swinging drawer.   
  
"I dug a cache in the shrine foundations. Once it's empty we can refill it. It's only logical." He risked a glance at his mate.   
  
She looked ready for tears. "That was your father's gift to you." She shook her head. "Not something for you to throw away for nothing."   
  
Inuyasha looked surprised. "A few billion yen is nothing? Sorry, but I thought your human culture was all off of money."   
  
Kagome seethed at him, well aware she could not sit him. "Those were precious relics of your ancestors. You had no business selling them."   
  
"Auctioning them off to the highest bidder is more like it." He smirked. "Besides, what's wrong with selling off some old pieces of disused junk?" She had left her school clothes on and he reached out to flick the top button off of the side closure.   
  
"I just don't have any control over you anymore!" She gasped as it spun away and off the porch.. His clawed hands swept up to grip her shoulders and she instantly said "Ouch." before he even touched her. Not as an exclamation of pain or to be cute but as a warning of unwanted danger. And he took it as that.   
  
His hands stopped a fraction away and then closed almost gently on her arms. "Kagome, you still control me with your voice."   
  
Kagome looked at him with tears pricking at her eyelashes. "But I don't, Inuyasha. You know that. There is no spell on you. I just try to convince you to follow your good instincts."   
  
He gazed at her and felt yet again another barrier go down without a sound. "Well, then, I think you will always guide me, Koi."   
  
"As long as I'm around, Inuyasha."   
  
His brows dropped in a thunderous frown. "Just what the fuck is that supposed to mean? You're mated to me, damnit! You're not going away while I'm alive and that's going to be for a while. I'm young!"   
  
Kagome shrugged and turned her face away. "Maybe there will be a time when I am a burden. I certainly will be one if you sell all of your possessions for my upkeep. Please don't, I'll find a way of supporting myself. Look, my husband, I'm going to get old and die while you are still young."   
  
The hanyou huffed in flaming annoyance, "What?!! Now you're telling me I can't keep you alive?" He paced off furiously, speaking all the while. "Look at that chest. I emptied it and already it's half-filled. I'm not going to run out of money. Don't you think I can even mate correctly? My life - all my riches are yours and you don't trust me?" He stopped, facing her. "You'll stay alive while I'm alive, Koi. We're almost the same age, so you will age slowly and die when I die, you fucking idiot."   
  
"But your mother?" Her voice was hesitant, her face shocked.   
  
"Suddenly became a hundred fifty-year-old woman and collapsed the moment my father died. She followed him a few hours later. I could barely recognize her." He looked away. "So, I guess you can say the situation has its drawbacks." The room was silent for a moment and the faint, steady sound of the bamboo tipper by the waterfall could be heard.   
  
Kagome thoughtfully sucked at a fingertip. "So-o...Kikyou really did have sort of a point about you becoming human."   
  
He threw up his hands and sat down disgustedly. "Maybe. I don't know. I surrender. Kill me now and you can die with only an extra month added to your natural life span."   
  
"But, Inuyasha, everyone I know will die; Sango, Miroku, Shippou, K.."   
  
"Please don't be stupid," he interrupted impatiently. "Right now all those people are already dust and things in this age will be going on only to be dust at the end of our lives." She made a sound and he looked at her sharply, "Don't you dare cry."   
  
"N-no, of course not." She gulped. "It's just a lot to take in."   
  
He shifted uneasily, "Koishii, is it really that bad? I never thought much about it myself. Everything faces loss. It's just the longer you live it just gets kind'a exponential." He pulled her over to him and she came readily enough now.   
  
"Math again, huh, Inuyasha?"   
  
"Yeah, math." He wrapped her in his arms. "Time too. I get to number all the hairs on your head."   
  
She giggled. "Great, I get to turn in my brush every morning for inspection."   
  
He nuzzled her head and relaxed, "That's O.K. I'm already looking."   
  
"You really are like a hen with one chick aren't you? Boy, you'll be something to see when we have kids." Kagome felt him tense and the half-familiar half-frightening vibration of his purr. "Cut that hentai nonsense out. No kids yet."   
  
"Mmm. But, Kagome, having pups with you is a goal in life."   
  
"We have lots of time but I have finals."   
  
~*~   
  
It was rather late when they came back, stepping in an instant from a spring evening into a decidedly damp and windy fall one back at the shrine. They made their way to the house with Kagome carefully clutching the bundle of Inuyasha's wedding clothes against her chest.   
  
They stomped in through the side door to the kitchen only to be confronted by the sight of Souta sitting companionably at the table with Jaken perched on one of the seats. The toad youkai was currently in an old kimono from Souta's own second or third Boy's Day celebration and looked almost to be his old self. Almost, that is. The little hat had been restarched and again stood up stiffly atop his head but the Staff of Heads was nowhere in sight and he sported a few Band-Aids here and there.   
  
Inuyasha didn't mince any words. "Where is the staff?" He asked, dumping a load of gold-festooned lanterns onto the table in a glittering heap.   
  
"How should I know?" snarled Jaken. "I was expelled from that other world just as the gate was closing up an had no chance to grab it from that stupid girl."   
  
"Before or after the bugs?" Inuyasha inquired distrustfully.   
  
"After. You Baka! You nearly killed me with that Kaze-no-Kizu of yours and I had to hide most of the day before I could even risk coming here." He dropped his eyes to the tabletop and Kagome was able to see numerous bumps and abrasions still evident on the green skin.   
  
Souta spoke up. "I found him hiding in that patch of bushes near the front of the shrine grounds when I came home from school. He was crying so loud that the crickets wouldn't even stay put."   
  
Jaken spluttered useless protests.   
  
~*~   
  
Reviews would be so nice.  



	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Houjou slowed his bike, fending it off of the curb with one foot. Having the day unexpectedly free from classes had left him at a loose end. After finishing any studying he could find to do at the local library he had gone for a bike ride and found himself outside the traditional apothecary store that fronted the main street of the district.

He entered the shop, the sweetly sharp smell of dried roots and herbs surrounding him in their familiar aroma. Most were in drawers behind the long counter that took up one side of the store but there was a section in the back where there were pre-packaged teas and roots in bins. This was where he was most fond of nosing into. Houjou's real ambition was to be a pharmacist for a major drug company, but he had a wide romantic streak in him that was called to by these old remedies and amulets.

Much to his satisfaction, he saw a new shipment had come in from Mainland China. It was still unsorted, sitting in a jumble on the floor in its open box. There was no telling what was in it.

"Looking for anything special today, Houjou-Kun?" The apothecary and he were old friends and he turned his head over his shoulder to answer readily, "No, just looking. What's in this new shipment?"

"Can't really say. Seems to have been shipped partly by mistake."

Houjou turned around and made a sound of interest.

"Part of what's in there is what's on my manifest but there's a whole pile of stuff that looks like it belongs to some Taoist priest in Hong Kong. Magic supplies and anti-daemon amulets aren't really what I ordered."

Houjou was already riffling through the stuff in the box. "Really? Wow!" I see what you mean." He held up a couple of circular amulets, which held chunks of dried roots and shiny stones in a web of copper wires. "Can I buy these off you anyway? With all these rumours of daemons wandering the streets it seems to make sense."

The apothecary brightened up. "You want to buy them? Say, maybe you're right and I should make a window display of them with a big sign. It's like pulling teeth to get these shippers to take a return on anything and if I can just break even, then…"

Houjou left, satisfied with his purchases, and mounted his bike to pedal up the gruelling slope of rising road that took him towards the Higurashi shrine. He didn't really have any distinct purpose in going there beyond a nebulous feeling that if he could only talk to Kagome, somehow give her the right gifts then things would start looking up for him.

It was as he approached the shrine that he realized how few cars had passed him on the road. This street was not a particularly busy one anyway, but normally he would have expected to be overtaken and passed by six or seven cars at least. Instead things had an eerie silence that allowed him to hear the crickets hidden in the grass behind the walls fronting the road and the faint echoes of some nearly hysterical radio announcer off in the distance.

Approaching him down the street was an apparition. He stopped the bike and wiped the sweat from his eyes. He was out of breath from the long haul up and felt a little dizzy so he shook his head and squinted to look again.

O.K., not an apparition, but a woman walking alone towards him swathed in some sort of red scarf, which clung to her neck and arms in dappled stripes. He could see her black shirt and clothes through it and the dyed purple streaks though her hair. That detail niggled at his mind a little bit but his attention was drawn by what she held before her in her hands.

It was a staff of sorts, with a pair Bunraku puppet heads at the top. The woman stopped a short distance away and turned it in her fingers so that the female puppet head was facing him. It was a beautiful face and seemed to smile at him, lips curving in the shadow of cheeks, eyes dropped modestly.

He frowned in confusion, trying to wrench his eyes away from the staff and focus on the woman who held it. He smiled quickly, relieved for some obscure reason, and spoke first. "Why, hello! I didn't expect to meet you here." He hesitated a moment as she frowned at him thoughtfully. "You remember," he urged, "We met in Yomiuriland the other night. We shared a car in the haunted house…" He trailed off as he realized that what he had thought was a red gauze scarf was not any such thing.

Meanwhile, back at the shrine, the interview with Jaken was not going particularly well.

Both Kagome and Inuyasha would have done better to take themselves off to do their own business while Higurashi-San and Souta gently pumped him dry of information but that did not fit at all with their notions interrogation and, as a result, Jaken clammed up. He would only mutter imprecations while casting casting dirty looks from under his goggling lids at them.

Higurashi-San had decided that she had to intervene to put a stop to the acrimonious hounding that was going on when Jaken suddenly sat up, going as pale as a creature with a dark green complexion possibly could. "It's here." he squawked distractedly, "It's here and we didn't even notice." With a scramble he hopped down from the kitchen chair to race down the hall to the front door.

Inuyasha and Kagome were barely an instant behind him and Jaken found himself swept up to ride on Inuyasha's back as they pounded for the head of the shrine steps. There was a brief crackle of greenish light and the threads of cold fire up the edges of the shrine's metal banisters as they arrived.

Inuyasha leaped ahead to land at the foot of the shrine steps with Jaken shrieking in his ear and scrabbling at his forehead for purchase. "Gods! Cut that out can't you?! I hate having my eyes clawed out." Jaken found himself dumped on his feet on the pavement by the scruff of his neck and an irate hanyou above him.

The jaki from the staff was there but it was weak and already dissipating. The street was empty except for a ten-speed bike lying on its side on the road, wheels spinning in lazy circles. Kagome clattered down the steps and stop with a dismayed gasp. "Houjou-Kun!"

Jaken felt energized. "Can you smell them, boy? The staff is seriously depleted and they cannot have gone far from here. It needs to be fed again and fed well for her to really travel with a passenger."

Inuyasha snarled at him impatiently and said, "There's no trail for me to follow. How do you expect me to track them?" He gave an elaborate, sarcastic, sniff and paused. "I do smell a bunch of human blood though." He crouched slightly, presenting his back to his companions.

"Houjou-Kun?" Kagome inquired worriedly as she climbed on pushing Jaken in front of her. "That's his bike, I know. He just got it new with his own money."

"Feh, Idiot, how should I know? You think I care about that fool's blood smell?" He didn't waste any time though, for all his complaints, in racing off in the gathering dusk towards the distant stench of blood.

Not very many minutes later, Jijii-Chan stepped out of the shrine ticket office, locking it behind him. He was mildly surprised to find a new ten-speed bicycle lying half across the curb like that but righting it and wheeling it to rest against the side of the building was no real problem. The owner would find it safe enough later. This was such a quiet street.

He toed down the kickstand with a self-satisfied grunt and set off for his appointment at the Silver Rain Pachinko Parlour. Junkuryo had called him earlier in the day with the news that another machine was on the verge of paying off. It was just a matter of playing the balls often enough on that unit to meet its quota.

Such a nice, quiet street; why, one could even hear the crickets.

It was twenty minutes after that when Sesshoumaru's black Bentley limousine drove up the small side street to the back of the shrine and parked behind the tiny Nissan that was the Higurashi family car. It was currently up on blocks having fallen victim to Souta's automotive class. He was in the process of "tuning it up"' much to Higurashi-San's dismay and inconvenience.

Higurashi-San herself was seated at the kitchen table with a pile of thick rice paper using a rubber stamp that she had commissioned off of a sample of Inuyasha's simply beautiful calligraphy that he had traded her in exchange for making the mesh bag. She knew the hanyou had no patience for addressing envelopes but he had been willing enough to draw the header for the wedding announcement for her and she had wasted no time in having a stamp of it made along with one of his signature.

She carefully pressed down on the large stamp and waited an instant before rolling it off of the slightly sticky page. 'There, another beautiful impression. Only a couple dozen more to go.' The quiet purr of a car pulling into her tiny driveway caused her to lift her head and rise to go to the kitchen door.

To say that she was startled by the appearance of the car's occupant would be severe understatement. Sesshoumaru was attired that day in a dove grey suit that only served to set off the blushing pink of the natural pearl that served as a closure to his white, collarless shirt. His hair was swept back in a tidy, low, ponytail and his face behind his sunglasses remained impassive.

Intuition told Higurashi-San who this was and she stood on the step and bowed quickly in greeting as she spoke. "Nishigawa-Sama, I presume. Please enter my humble house. I have long wished to meet the older brother of Inuyasha."

Sesshoumaru hesitated for an instant before returning the bow stiffly. "You are Higurashi-San of Higurashi Shrine? I believe we are associated through your daughter, Kagome."

She dipped her head in assent and stepped aside, waving him into her kitchen. "Please come on. Ignore the mess, Kagome and Inuyasha are off with the little toad-man and may not be back until late. I have been stamping wedding invitations and feeling quite sorry I couldn't contact you. Please accept an invitation now."

Sesshoumaru found himself holding an invitation surmounted by all the glory of a formal kanji announcement done, if his memory did not fail him, in Inuyasha's own rather dashy calligraphy. He studied it gravely as he toyed with the idea of simply balling it up in his fist and melting it with his own acid. He sighed and drew his eyes up from the page to meet Higurashi-San's expectant smile. Her resemblance to her daughter at the moment was strong and carried much of the same pull that had dragged Inuyasha straight into falling so hard and fast in love with Kagome.

He found himself speaking before he had intended and listened in dismay as he heard his own voice accepting the invitation and offering his services in anything she might need. 'Where on earth had that come from?' He thought desperately as his unruly mouth opened and spoke again. "I see that your car is currently not in service. May I offer you the use of mine?"

"I gratefully accept, I really need to visit a couple of shops in the Ginza this evening but I was dreading having to carry all those bags myself." was Higurashi-San's prompt and unexpected reply.

Higurashi-San beamed cannily at him and called for Souta to meet his brother-by-marriage. Souta had been listening in and had no compunction about putting down the video-game controller to meet this new relative and see his astounding car. She moved quickly, putting away the printing supplies and gathering up her purse and coat after dashing off a note and placing it on the refrigerator with a magnet.

She sighed happily as she was conducted to the limo. Such nice boys at bottom.; they both presented a distant face to the world but were always ready to bend over backwards if just handled correctly. She shushed Souta once she was seated. The electronic controls in the armrest of the seat appeared to have excited him and he was pushing buttons in rapid succession.

Sesshoumaru seated himself in the seat facing Kagome's mother and considered the situation. It was perfect, actually. Inuyasha would be compelled to meet with him and tender over the staff in exchange for the safe return of the human miko's relatives. He studied the pair covertly as they watched the passing scene outside their windows with happy expressions. The inconvenience was a small price to pay in his estimation for return of his power over world gates. He winced a bit as the communicating window behind the driver descended for the fifth time in as many minutes.

All of which compounded to leave the Higurashi Shrine standing empty in the gathering fall dusk. Empty but for the adipose form of Buyo the cat, which was jammed in the amazingly small circumference of the bathroom sink, sound asleep.

Reviews would be so nice…


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Inuyasha completed a spring and was in midair when he perceived it. A renewed stench of blood assaulted his nostrils. None of it was fresh. He slowed his steps. "Kagome, how 'bout you get off now."

Her hands tightened on his shoulders. "W-why, Inuyasha?"

He gave off a short huff and shrugged his shoulders in a meaningful way. "Off, Girl. Can't you see it? The portal is there."

Jaken was silent as he slid down the Hanyou's body to the ground. The presence of the staff was there like the twang in the flavour of musty tea. He could see the little miko casting about her in search of a clue to the portal's location.

A dimly vibrating spot hung about shoulder high in midair. They were in a short side street lined with parked bicycles and small houses. Jaken shook his head, pity they couldn't choose the site better. Property damage was nearly unavoidable and years of having to manage in the human world had made him leery about it.

They stood, watching the vibrating spot with attention.

-------------------------

The universe swirled with a green sickish blackness. One breath not taken, two, three…

Houjou gasped and staggered as the girl loosed him. "Whaa." His feet carried him a few meters before catching in the long green grass and bringing him to his hands and knees. He slowly lifted his head, aware of the cry of gulls and that he was on the top of some sort of cliff.

"Where is this?" He murmured as the surrounding mist blew clear for a moment and he could see down to the ocean pearling at the base of black rocks far below. It seemed to be a land of sea, wind and foam, chill and lonely. But his fingers curled in lush green grass that was moist with dew.

"Oh, damnit! Wrong again!" exclaimed a woman's voice.

He looked over his shoulder to see the girl gripping the staff in one hand as she twisted her head about surveying the scene. Beyond her he could just make out what appeared to be a farm set on a rising hill. Low rough stone walls surrounded a pasture where some rather round-looking grey ponies were grazing. And he could just make out the lettering on a red-sided van parked on the lane. "Donnelly's Meat's, Cloughneely, Co. Donnegal" it said in large gold roman letters. Houjou sounded them out with his mind focusing on them with desperate intensity. They didn't seem to mean a thing.

The girl sighed and lowered the staff, walking towards him a briskly determined step. "Sorry about this, but I need more juice. It is really nothing personal." She laid her hand gently on the back of his neck.

A piercing cold sensation made him shiver and, before he could jerk away, answering warmth flamed in the area of his chest. "Oww," he squawked and scrambled forward before leaping to his feet. He grabbed at the area of his shirt that was so hot and found himself clutching his breast pocket. He could feel the hard shapes of the two charms he had bought at the apothecary only an hour ago. Back when things were normal.

He tore them out of his pocket and held them up to stop her.

She did stop. "What are those?" She asked, blinking at their glitter.

"Anti-daemon amulets fresh from China. Take that!" He waved them menacingly in her general direction.

Her eyes widened and she and she reached forward, "Ooh, pretty."

"No, no! Stay back!" He took a few sliding steps in a semicircle to the right. His plan (such as it was) was to distract her with the swinging amulets and make a break for the lane and the farmhouse that stood on the next rise. "You're not fooling me! You're just trying to get them away from me."

She smirked and twirled the staff a bit in her fingers. "So? It's not like I'm a daemon."

Houjou sighed in puzzlement. "No. Can't you please tell me what's going on?"

A shake of the head was his only answer as she took another step towards him. "Sorry, the only ones who can answer that are these heads on the staff itself." She reached towards his wrist with one hand. "If you feed them, maybe they'll talk to you."

With a gasp Houjou suddenly wobbled and dropped in a senseless heap at her feet.

She withdrew her hand and fisted it on her hip as she bent over to examine him. "Then again, maybe not…"

A short time later a greenish flare sparkled over the grasses and the little headland was left to the wind and the gulls.

-----------------------------

Jijii-Chan saw Jukuryo waiting outside of the Silver Rain Pachinko Parlour leaning against the wall and smoking a cigarette. The glow from the lit end illuminated his face briefly as he took a deep puff and caught the crimson glitter of his eyes. His bony four-fingered hand moved up and gave it a practiced flick as he tossed the spent end into the gathering night.

Jijii-Chan slowed in the street for a moment as he considered the odd appearance of his old friend. He had always known Jukuryo as a well-disposed contact. They had become friends late in life when he himself had been a disappointed fifty, newly widowed and at a loose end. Jijii-Chan's youth had been misspent hanging with the fringes of the Yakuza before he married and returned to care for the family shrine. After his wife's death, he had gravitated back to some old contacts in what was (admittedly) a search for mischief.

The Yakuza have a long tradition of self-mutilation and Jukuryo was a powerful and well-respected member. The renewed acquaintance was pleasant to both and Jijii-Chan had simply never before questioned his old friend about his past. The mental image of his own hand slapping an offuda against Jukuryo's chest only to have it fizzle into ash replayed in his mind.

Inuyasha's mocking voice sounded again in his ears, "You wouldn't know a daemon if it kicked you in the butt!"

Jijii-Chan shrugged and advanced to meet Jukuryo as the other spotted him. "Kids were home from school today." He said by way of greeting.

Jukuryo grunted in acknowledgement and turned to lead the way to the small concession counter to purchase a couple of beers. "Any other visitors?"

"No, should I have been expecting anyone?"

Jukuryo looked self-conscious and dropped into a seat waiting until Jijii-Chan settled next to him. "Well, you know that the creature Jaken had something that I had been hired to find."

Jijii-Chan made a vague sound. "About that. Was that little monster one of the creatures that have been invading the city?"

"No, that was a daemon. Your own offuda removed the weak disguise spell he was under." Jijii-Chan swelled in pleasure at the thought.

"Yes it did. Didn't it?"

Jukuryo chuckled a bit at the old man's reaction to success. "The creatures attacking Tokyo are not as natural as daemons are. They are arriving some other way."

His companion turned and seemed about to say something as Jukuryo hurried on. "I need to know something from you. Has young Nishigawa ever mentioned any relatives?"

"He hasn't spoken of any but Kagome has mentioned an evil brother of his, Sesshoumaru. They have never gotten along and Inuyasha seems just as happy to ignore his existence." Jijii-Chan tuned slightly in his seat and set his beer on the counter with exaggerated care. "What's all this about?"

The clattering roar of the pachinko parlour behind them seemed locked out of their own bubble of silence. Jukuryo sighed and tapped out another cigarette. "I have good reason to believe that my client, Nishigawa Sesshoumaru, is Inuyasha's older brother. He hired me to locate a rare item of his. A two-headed staff last known to be in the possession of Sesshoumaru's servant, Jaken. That girl, Ryosei, appears to have been playing a deep game. She was working both for Sesshoumaru and me and had established some sort of a deal with Jaken. I don't know what she was up to, beyond spying." He lit his cigarette and drew a thoughtful breath.

"That didn't distress me particularly. I expect some sort of scrutiny and Ryosei was both efficient and of real use to me in my business." He smirked, tapping ash onto the floor. "Easy on the eyes too."

Jijii-Chan gave an agreeable belch.

"Anyway, Jaken has absconded with the staff and Nishigawa-Sama contacted me last night after I returned to my apartment from your house. He had seen the news report and demanded information on Jaken and his missing staff. He felt the incidents on the report were associated with his staff and he had recognized Inuyasha. I tried to hold him off but he's very quick on the uptake and was asking a number of uncomfortable questions about shrines and old local shrine families. I should think he would be showing up on your doorstep any time now."

Jijii-Chan shrugged and stole one of his companion's cigarettes.

"I don't think Inuyasha is at the shrine. I thought I heard them passing the shrine store in a group shortly before I left to meet you. Those kids can sound like a herd of elephants, you know?"

Jukuryo nodded and finished his beer. "What's to worry about then? Sesshoumaru will just have to be disappointed." He took out his palm pilot and activated it. "O.K. Machine number thirteen, the one over in the corner. Between fifty and seventy more plays should have it paying out."

Jijii-Chan clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Well, better get busy."

The roar of the pachinko parlour surrounded them and welcomed them in.

---------------------------------

Inuyasha tensed, blocking Kagome's line of sight with his shoulder. She could feel the downy hairs on the backs of her arms and legs lifting in response to worms of static electricity as the greenish globe of the gate expanded to fill the available area.

Jaken could be heard on the other side of the glowing globe cursing a blue streak as the distant image of a stony hillside appeared within. "She's fed it again, the wench! She's not controlling it at all. At this rate she'll be opening permanent gates for sure!"

An echoing, "Whop," sounded and Ryosei appeared dragging the inert form of Houjou by one arm. She dropped him with an exhausted grunt and ignored her audience as she raised his wrist and brought the head of the staff to it.

"What are you doing?" Kagome gasped. Ryosei didn't respond and angled the staff to touch it to a slick red spot that trickled sluggishly.

"She's feeding the staff again! Stop her!" Jaken's voice was shrill in response.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Inuyasha growled and flexed his claws with a snarl on his face. In another moment he was up in the air his claws extended towards Ryosei and going in for a slashing swipe to knock her aside.

"Kya! Get away!" Ryosei shrieked. She dropped the unconscious boy to cover her face with one arm as the hand holding the Staff of Heads came out and made a lacerating swipe at Inuyasha with the fangs of the open puppet mouths.

Inuyasha just barely dodged the attack and dove in to grab Houjou from under her feet. Thinking he was going after her legs, Ryosei took another slap at him this time smacking his head hard with the blunt end of the staff. "Bitch!" Inuyasha cried, falling back for a moment or two, rubbing his head.

"YouKeepAwayFromMe!" Ryosei warned him all in one word brandishing the staff at him again.

"Inuyasha! Houjou-kun!" Kagome called out from the side, pointing at the inert body of Houjou with a look of worry on her face.

"I know! I know!" He called back irritably and reached out to grab the boy by the back of his shirt from the ground.

At that moment the amulets in Houjou's hand began to glow with some kind of power that rapidly got significantly brighter. "Watch out you hanyou fool!" Jaken cried out. Having spotted the suspicious glow immediately, but Inuyasha noticed it a split second too late.

The amulets reached an incandescent white and exploded. The shock sent Inuyasha careening away a good fifty meters back right through a bike rack and landed him in a tangle of bent bike wreckage against a brick wall. Before he had time to regain his breath the wall teetered from the force of the impact and collapsed all around him in a monumental crash.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried running to the cursing lump of bricks.

Jaken flinched "I hope no one heard that, otherwise that's going to cost me…" Jaken muttered, and looked around for Ryosei and the Staff of Heads. But both were nowhere in sight. All that was left by then was the rumpled Houjou and his bloody fist of amulets. "Uwaa!! Gone again!"

--------------------------

Buyo shifted gently within the concave bowl of the bathroom sink. The coolness of the white porcelain slid against his back as he repositioned himself slightly and sank again into a gentle slumber. Mice scattered impossibly through his dreams as claws raked though them. 'Nibble they tiny feet…'

The dreams of even the fattest cats are not for the weak…

---------------------------

Reviews are so nice. I appreciate every single one.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Inuyasha was still brushing brick dust out of his hair when he reluctantly gathered himself up to help Kagome move the unconscious Houjou. His head hurt, he had a major twinge in one ankle and all Kagome could find to care about was this human bag of wussiness?

"Maybe he would do better sitting up." Kagome whispered in concern. Outside of a shallow wound on the inside of his left wrist, which bled in a slow drip and had left the hand covered in blood, the boy appeared uninjured. She briskly whipped out a plastic ampoule of saline and squirted the contents over the wound to clean it before wrapping the wrist in a couple passes of dressing tape. As time had passed in the Sengoku Jidai Kagome had refined her collection of first aid supplies and now never went without a pocketful of the absolute basics. There were a couple of red threads tangled in the fingers of the hand but no trace of whatever had been attached to them.

She frowned in puzzlement as she snipped the tape and pressed briefly to secure it in place. Why would Houjou be wandering around carrying sacred Tibetan holy threads in the first place? She could recognize those by their aura at least and had seen the flash of light before Inuyasha had touched him. "Inuyasha, was that an anti-daemon spell you ran into?"

Inuyasha sighed. She was always getting sidetracked like that. He couldn't claim it was wrong; too many of their battles had been decided on this support of the weak that she insisted on. But couldn't she just keep to the point for once? No helping out gormless losers? 'Surely,' Inuyasha thought, 'Not too much to ask from one's life's mate?"

"Kagome," he said. "Who the fuck cares? Whatever it was didn't really hurt me. But we have to leave" He wanted to stop there but some devil of concern kept him on. "What is this with this guy that he matters to you? He's alive," he offered.

Kagome lifted her hand and he automatically helped her to a standing position from where she knelt at Houjou's side. "Inuyasha, I just can't, simply cannot, ignore pain that I can alleviate. I know this sounds stupid to you; but Houjou was in my school and I can't forget the day he was knocked cold by falling off the swings."

"So, that's what happened," he said.

"Yes.." then she paused, catching on to his meaning and what she had just said. She snapped her head around to look him in the eye. . "No! You stinker! Now be nice, I didn't mean that at all!" She got up and turned her back on him as she walked away to Jaken's side. "Even if he couldn't talk straight for a week."

She blushed and he caught the shadow of a smile, which caused him to smirk. But, under his hands, Inuyasha felt the human boy stir.

"Kagome?" Houjou murmured. Inuyasha huffed softly and shifted Houjou's torso into a more comfortable position against the alley wall. Houjou opened his eyes. "You evil daemon," he mumbled, "what did you do to my Kagome?"

Inuyasha's eyebrows shot up behind his untamed bangs and he shoved sharply at Houjou's shoulders to get his attention. "Asshole, that's my wife you're talking about."

He hissed.

"Kagome shouldn't be near anything like you." Houjou persisted, in a whisper that was gaining some heat. "You are ruining her life."

Inuyasha didn't reply but dropped the supporting grip he had on the boy's shoulders suddenly. There was a distinct thump and Houjou gave a grunt as his head bounced off the wall and dropped forward.

"Is he awake?" inquired Kagome, having heard something.

Inuyasha flicked his eyes to her where she stood, upright and concerned and returned his gaze to the 'nice' boy she maybe liked. Maybe he had stolen her life and Houjou was her proper mate. Damn them all. "Out like a light." He stated and moved to sweep her and Jaken along "Let's go and get that stick."

Under Jaken's staccato directions they headed for an area that he declared to be some three blocks away in the business district for that chome to a large concrete building that had at one time been painted a fierce red but now had faded to a muddy pink. Hung Lou Meng's Traditional Hand Laundry screamed the name in bold neon kanji over the shop front doors opening onto the street.

Inuyasha remained in the shadows for a moment as he shifted to a somewhat more human aspect, replacing the white hair and dogs ears with a less attention-getting configuration.

Jaken tugged at Inuyasha's pant leg and cleared his throat. The hanyou glanced down and realized that the pint-size toad daemon was asking for something. "What?"

The toad daemon cleared his throat again and waved a hand at his own form suggestively. "Perhaps the favor of a small concealment spell?"

Inuyasha stared at him for a moment before exchanging glances with Kagome. "Umm, Jaken?" She said. "What makes you think Inuyasha does magic?"

Jaken stared at the human girl in patent offense. "I just watched him do it, Girl. And very smoothly too, I might add. Now about that concealment spell," he turned back to Inuyasha to encounter a thunderous frown.

"I don't do magic tricks." was the snarled response. "I'll just tuck you under my arm and nobody will notice," he said, suiting the action to the word.

With a protesting squawk, Jaken found himself tucked against a hard chest and spent the next several minutes struggling to breathe against the overly firm pressure being applied to his froggy ribs by the restraining arm.

Kagome and Inuyasha circled around the front of the building and down the narrow drive that led to the delivery bays out back. The streetlights were just beginning to come on and a floodlight illuminated the rear of a brightly painted laundry service van that was drawn up to the loading dock. Other vans could be picked out in the dimness of the parking lot. The loading dock itself was deserted for the moment and they cautiously ascended the stairs.

Inuyasha took a deep sniff and nearly gagged on the rich mixture of soap, machine grease, dust, rot and the sharp tang of maggots. He sent an aggrieved look at the large sacks sitting on a pallet jack and into the body of the van where more were waiting. Apparently, a lot of the laundry arrived in a pretty foul state. Even Kagome was holding her nose as she edged past.

"Yeach, hospital linens." Wheezed Jaken from his crushed position. "Sure, it's a hand laundry." His comments ended with a grunt as Inuyasha gave an admonitory squeeze of his elbow. There was scarcely the need for any silence however, as there was a steady rumble of running machinery that covered any noise they may have made.

The concrete floor of the entry way led to a wide opening curtained in clear plastic strips hanging from the ceiling. There was no movement visible and Inuyasha finally let Jaken down to the floor before easing through the strips and into the darker area beyond.

They were approaching a structure that had glass windows all around it and the blinking screens of a couple of computer monitors visible inside. The door to the room stood wide open and they could see the shattered fragments of a coffee mug next to a tipped-over desk chair.

Kagome pursed her lips and regarded the signs of a hurried exit with a jaundiced eye. "I can tell Ryosei's been here, she seems to specialize in disrupting business."

"That's not all she's going to disrupt if we don't get the Staff of Heads back from her, you foolish girl."

Inuyasha was just turning to give a snarl at Jaken when he was interrupted by a rising scream. They immediately piled off in that direction and quickly came to a large open space surrounded by huge washing machines. There were cloth-sided bins on wheels scattered around the area and a group of cowering men and women dressed in gray coveralls backed into a corner formed by a couple of particularly businesslike silver cylinders covered in dials and switches.

Ryosei stood with her back to the new arrivals, holding up the Staff of Heads in one hand and moving it much like a kite flyer does when winding up string. One of the women from the group, middle-aged and thin, with a face currently twisted in terror, appeared to be in the process of being drawn step by unwilling step closer to the girl.

Kagome could just make out a tenuous thread of power extending from the neck of the staff to that of the woman. She was leaning forward in concentration when the female head on the staff appeared to catch sight of them and dropped it's mouth open to emit a shrill call.

Inuyasha cursed and started forward, simultaneously drawing Tetsusaiga and dropping his human aspect.

Ryosei spared them a single startled glace over her shoulder before leaping forward and grabbing the woman by the collar and bringing the staff firmly against her neck. Immediately the air behind her quivered with disturbance and gate opened up on a void of blackness in which something stirred.

Inuyasha hesitated for just an instant as a huge clawed foot stepped out of the blackness followed by a scaly green leg. He could hear the fussing of Jaken as the little toad daemon moved from his side, and sense a stir of power from Kagome. He held his stance, watching the slow movement in the portal while peripherally noting that Kagome was doing something that caused static electricity all along his forearms.

With a sudden rush the creature from the portal came through. There was a collective scream from the group of hostages and even a quiet gasp from Kagome at his side. The being that revealed itself as it leaped from the portal measured a good three meters tall from the tips of its upswept horns to the clawed ends of its wings where they brushed the concrete floor. Above it, in the metal rafters of the roof, sparks flew, illuminating briefly the tangle of black water supply hoses before falling in a shower about the creature. They seemed to gather along the lengths of a coiled barbed whip held in one hand. The black portal shrank to the size of a small ball and hung in the air the way that balls don't.

It turned its head slowly, surveying the area with glowing red eyes. "Who now disturbs the rest of Hammertoe? This had better be good."

There was a shrill whimpering sound from Ryosei. She still clutched the woman from the crowd of laundry employees in an odd embrace; but the staff appeared to move of its own volition, jerking her arm out straight towards the monster. Its eyes seemed to glow.

"I see," rumbled the creature. "What is an item from the Sixth Plane of Hell doing in a place like this?"

Beside Inuyasha, Kagome had fallen into a tense stillness. He didn't know what she was doing. She didn't have her bow with her but seemed to be dropped into the same powerful concentration that she always manifested when preparing to use it. All he could do was be ready and wait.

"Well, we'll just have to retrieve that," stated the monster and dropped the coils of its whip to the floor as it lunged towards Ryosei and its goal; the Staff of Heads. A flaring spark erupted against his hand a scant few inches before Ryosei's quivering body, showing briefly an inverted shell that surrounded both her and the huddled group of people behind her.

'Good girl, Kagome.' Inuyasha thought as he took a few swift steps forward and leaped towards his opponent. "Fool, I'm the one you'll be fighting!" He shouted and gave a clout to the creature's shoulder with the flat of his blade.

The horned head swung towards him and glowing eyes flared orange. The creature shifted its stance and Inuyasha could spot the signs of the monster's pleasure at being challenged. The glowing eyes narrowed as they examined him, "What breed of insignificant hell-spawn are you?"

"Your worst nightmare."

"Don't make me laugh, Pipsqueak, DIE!"

The horned devil lashed out at the hanyou with its barbed whip. Inuyasha tried to jump away, but wasn't fast enough to avoid the spiked tip as it wrapped about his throat. His hand went up instantly to prevent the whip from closing on his windpipe and he glared at the fiend. "You damned piece of shit!" He growled and yanked both his body and the whip back with a hard wrench.

The devil staggered from the suddenness and force of the pull this little opponent was producing and gave a twist to the whip, managing to stop the hanyou's progress and pull him forward a couple of steps. Could it be this small creature was under the impression it was stronger than a greater devil? It grinned with a fierce joy. "A challenge, it has been so long." It rumbled, forgetting any other aim. With a flick of its wrist the whip was lashed giving the hanyou on the other end a nasty jolt before slipping free.

Inuyasha hissed in an abortive attempt to speak as blood began to trickle down from his abused neck. He slid down to one knee and gazed up at the devil with grinding teeth. This thing was going to have to die. He regained his footing and lifted the fang blade up, with not a second thought to where he was, or the people who were watching. He located the Kaze-no-Kizu and aimed it straight for the horned devil facing him.

The devil stared at the action of wind and youki that was forming a passage between it and its opponent and laughed. Its claws started to glow red-hot and a flame danced on its fingertips. Within a shattered instant the flame became a huge ball of fire, which it flung at Inuyasha through the burst of the Kaze no Kizu.

"Oh crap…" Inuyasha watched for a split second as a huge, rolling, ball of gas came right at him. He barely got the Tetsusaiga into a blocking position before himself and Kagome before it struck, causing the long table in front of them to burst into flames. "How the fuck did he get through the Kaze no Kizu?!" The blast from the Kaze-no-Kizu seemed to roll past his opponent with little effect although the washing machines behind him were pulverized.

The devil laughed mightily and reached back into the nothingness of the portal. When its hand emerged it held a two-pronged fork, so sharp at the tips of its prongs that it seemed to cut the very air as the creature pointed it at the hanyou.

Inuyasha felt hot slices on his arms and legs and stumbled back, gasping a bit. "Asshole…" He wielded the Tetsusaiga in front of him again with a low choked snarl and flew forward at him.

The devil matched his move with a toothy grin, aiming the fork right for Inuyasha's throat. The hanyou countered by catching the fork with his blade and deflected it up and to one side, baring his own fangs.

The devil dropped its jaws open and scowled in astonishment as its fork was propelled out of its hands and up into the ceiling where it struck a waterline far above their heads. There was a deep, creaking sound and metallic snap as torrents of warm water came pouring down to the floor, soaking everything.

Inuyasha heard Kagome gasp as she got drenched and the barrier around the humans flickered and failed for a moment. He spun around. "Kagome!" He saw her shake herself a bit and throw a look his way.

"I'm all right! Keep your attention on that-- thing!" She called, before hastily turning her attention to her own task.

Inuyasha frowned and nodded, turning to face the devil just in time to have it swing yet another fork at his neck. He gasped and dove under the attack to come back up in a crouch at the end of the roll with a swing at the creature's legs.

The devil grunted as he missed and stepped back a bit into the torrent of water. With a rumble it dove forward again, making an uppercut to the hanyou's chest and, in the process, attempting to strike the Tetsusaiga away.

Inuyasha leapt back a foot or so, just out of the fork's reach, but not fast enough. He let out an agonized howl as the thing scraped his leg with a lava hot point, ripping and burning his pants and skin. Stumbling for balance with a few choice curses Inuyasha was caught unawares as the devil made another slice, this time directly at Kagome.

She saw it coming, and her hold on the protective shield broke as she automatically fended off the darts of cutting force with an explosive blue flare. The distraction was enough, however, and the barrier was down, giving the creature free rein.

Within a splintered instant it was back through the torrent of water that still cascaded from the ceiling and grasping Ryosei by one wrist. She gave a shriek as she was towed bodily through the black portal and there was an echoing cry as Jaken sprang from the shadows and grabbed at the Staff of Heads, clinging to it as even he was dragged though in the horned devil's wake and the portal closed with a distinct pop.

With a clatter the Staff of Heads fell to the floor of the Hung Lou Meng's Traditional Hand Laundry and lay abandoned in a rapidly spreading pool of sudsy water.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A sort of kicky version of 'The Girl From Ipanema' wafted though the air as Higurashi-San paused in front of a shelf of expensive gadgets. "Are you sure that's the best selection?"

"Well," came the reply. "You really can't go wrong with Pioneer."

"Mmm, true" She mused. "Let's try them." And they moved leisurely along as the xylophone solo started.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

What can I say? One hard drive crash and a destructive purge and recovery later I finally get my chapter out. A mere twenty days late and written from scratch.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Warning, risk of falling lemons. Pesky trees!

Kagome rode on Inuyasha's back with the Staff of Heads held stiffly out to one side, firmly blindfolded and the injunction to "Sleep" laid upon it. She had asked for a strip of cloth from one of the traumatized laundry workers and had been given a large bandana from someone's back pocket. All offers of payment were politely turned down as the shrill sound of approaching police sirens echoed along the street.

They now made their way over the city rooftops. Kagome rather enjoyed them; the roofs were an always-unexpected wilderness of flat planes and sharp rises. Old TV antennas could double as bushes and satellite dishes as the occasional flowers. 'And the streets could be streams.' Kagome thought a little fuzzily as they came in for a tight landing on a narrow ledge with a sudden drumming of Inuyasha's feet as he ran up the slope of an inclined skylight and launched off smoothly again. She watched the world whirl past her in a swiftly shifting kaleidoscope of images. Most of Tokyo seemed to be at dinner and many were the families seated or kneeling at table that she glimpsed through apartment windows as they rushed past.

A child's face looked, wide-eyed, at them and Kagome cheekily waved. "What are you doing?" Inuyasha said abruptly in midair.

"Umm, nothing." she responded, burying her face in his flying mane.

"Well, cut it out, or warn me or something. You're throwing my balance off."

'What would I do without him?' She thought, with a vindictive little yank at his hair. 'What wouldn't I do?'

"Are you falling asleep on me back there?" He asked, hitching her a little tighter. "Hang on, we're almost to the shrine."

Kagome lifted her head and looked, the shrine precincts were at the top of the rise. She could see the Goshinboku's venerable branches and in an instant they were descending the main shrine buildings roof in a sliding run to land with hardly a jar upon the ground. Inuyasha let the girl slide off and stood tall with his back arched and his arms over his head in a joint popping stretch.

"Inuyasha."

"Hmmn?"

"Don't you think we should've checked on Houjou-Kun? We did kind-of leave him unconscious by the side of the road."

"Keh, I did. Even if you slept through it. He was gone. And so is his contraption too, if that was what you were going to ask." He looked at her, his hair lifting on the breeze and glowing faintly in the darkness. "Kagome, do you…" he trailed off then resumed. "Do you think we should conceal this thing somewhere or risk taking it with us."

Kagome felt a bit surprised having forgotten that she still held the blinded staff in one hand. She was pretty sure that was not what he was going to ask originally but he did have a point. Having the staff with them raised the likelihood of its escape from control and falling, yet again, into the wrong hands. But where were they to put it?

"We could seal it in the shrine if you don't mind climbing up in the rafters with it. That way it wouldn't be visible from the main sanctuary area but still be under it's influence."

Inuyasha grimaced a bit but walked alongside of her as she led him over to the pavilion where the shine's faithful were accustomed to rinsing their hands and washing their mouths out with fresh water. He had no objection to this and followed suit even to the point of taking off his shoes and rinsing his feet. They needed the shrine undefiled for their purposes.

Kagome watched him without comment and led the way up the brief flight of steps that led to the main building's great sliding doors. There she entered her date of birth on the inconspicuous keypad that was behind a small cover to one side of it. Jijii-Chan had not been too happy about the wiring costs, maintaining that a holy place should be its own defense, but the insurance company had won out in the end.

There was a faint click and Inuyasha moved to slide one of the doors aside revealing the gloomy interior of the Haiden. This was the main worship area of the shrine and contained offerings and the sweet scent of the day's incense still floating in the air. Indeed, it may have been infused into the very wood after all this time as Inuyasha stepped quietly in and looked about him. A dim light from numerous, carefully shielded, votive lamps lit one side of the carved wooden screen before the sanctuary but the place was otherwise dark and cavernous.

Kagome paced up the silent hall looking neither to the right nor the left as she approached the rear screen. She stopped short of it and pointed to the great-beamed rafters supporting the roof far above. Each one cleverly joined to the other without nails.

Inuyasha took the Staff of Heads and placed its shaft between his teeth and leaped from the floor to the rafters to land neatly on the balls of his feet, fingers touching briefly for balance. Another short jump and he was into the roof space of the short passageway between the Haiden and the Honden-the inner sanctum of the shrine. There, he paused for a moment, lost in thought. Kagome had said just to leave the cursed staff up in the rafters but the inner sanctum had been good enough to protect the Shikon-no-Tama until he had ripped the roof off to get it on that fateful day so many years ago.

It seemed easy enough, the altar was covered with a heavy cloth, and he could tuck the staff under its skirts. He dropped down from the ceiling into a place that he had been in once before.

Unlike that time he stood up slowly, using his daemon sight to reveal the place about him. There was little in it. A table before him held a wrapped bow and what seemed to be a rotted remnant of an armor corset of a style that had been antique when he was a pup. Next to that was an item wrapped in a swathing of silk.

He ignored it as he bent down to slide Sesshoumaru's Staff of Heads underneath the heavy brocade skirt of the table without disturbing the cloth bound over its eyes in any way. But that being done he reached up and lifted the cloth that was over the circular object on the table. As expected, it was a mirror, but something about the filigree pattern that surrounded it caught his attention and he carefully turned it over to view its back.

His eyes widened and shone gold as he took in the sight. At that moment, Kagome's voice echoed from beyond the screen and his head snapped up at the sound of it. Enough to think about this later. Time to go.

She was waiting nervously where he had left her, holding one of the shrine's purifying arrows between her palms. As soon as she saw him she pointed the arrow at the sanctuary and then knelt to place it at the foot of the dividing screen. Inuyasha could feel the sensation of a barrier building up quickly to encompass and close off the area before them. He caught at her hand and hurried her from the building, leaving it to its silences and secrets.

Outside the wind had picked up a bit, bringing a swirl of leaves across the pavement. Inuyasha drew Kagome with him through the darkness, stepping swiftly over the short fence surrounding the area at the foot of the Goshinboku and pulling her against him as he leaned back against its trunk.

She was silent as he did this. Enjoying the warmth and strength of his arms across her back. His grip was tense and she could feel a prickle of claws from where his hands were touching her sides. He suddenly made a choked sound and moved one hand up to the side of her face in a rough caress before moving it to her back again.

Kagome rested against him willingly enough but did not really understand why he seemed troubled. After a few moments of being firmly held she shifted a bit in his arms. He let her move but resettled their position again so that they were actually in closer proximity with his hands pressing against her back and her face against his neck.

"Inuyasha? Is something bothering you?"

He gave vent to a faint purring grumble. "Not now that evil stick is in storage for a little bit. I don't want that damn thing spying on us." He growled softly again, nuzzling against her hair. "Thought you'd be killed back there. We need to find Jukuryo and get him to return that thing to Sesshoumaru. He can fetch Jaken back with it if he wants."

"Poor Jaken," Kagome murmured guiltily. "And poor Ryosei. The staff was driving her crazy." She tilted her head up for a view of Inuyasha but all she could really see of him at that angle was the curve of his tanned cheek.

"Poor Houjou too, come to think of it--he may never recover from the experience." She watched as a muscle ticked in that cheek and felt Inuyasha's claws pricking her sides again. "So, what did he say to you when he regained consciousness that made you knock him back out again?"

Inuyasha's head jerked back and he pulled away enough to see her face. She waited, eyes gravely considering him. He opened his mouth to protest but some feeling welling up in his heart and tightening his chest prevented him. "Nothing but lies." He said and pulled her forward into a kiss.

Kagome stiffened in surprise as his mouth came down on hers hard enough to bruise but her hands had a mind of their own as they slid up his chest to grip his hair and pull him closer. The kiss became searing and they staggered slightly as the ground seemed to lurch beneath their feet.

He broke the kiss with a gasp and laughed on a shaky breath. "Nothing but lies," he repeated. "Kagome…Gods, Kagome, I need you." He was kissing her again, this time more sweetly, pulling at her lower lip, nibbling and licking at her in little tastes. His hands roved restlessly, finally ending up with one splayed over her bottom and the other molding a breast. She sighed against his mouth and he caught the flavor of her submission. It fanned his passion to flame and he let her know it, pushing aside her shirt heedlessly and hauling her up against him as he fastened his mouth over her breast.

She felt her knees start to buckle and grabbed at his shoulders for balance. But he had other ideas let them slide softly to the ground one hand cradling her head as leaned her back. Giving an aroused, helpless whimper, Kagome let him, only able to hold his head against her as he continued to suckle at that tormented breast and allowing her spread knees to slide up on either side his hips as he settled himself.

Yes, here was where it was. Here he knew for sure. She was in the open in her own time and she was not resisting him. A last deep pull had a moan breaking through her parted lips as Inuyasha broke contact and knelt to yank frantically at only the essential pieces of clothing needed to give him access. Kagome's own hands were just as swift to help him and moved to her own to wantonly strip most of hers off.

Inuyasha's fanged teeth flashed briefly in some stray gleam of light as he grinned and followed suite with alacrity. Within moments his powerful hands were gripping her shoulders and moving her up against him where he knelt. With a few soft instructions he had her back braced against the trunk of the Goshinboku with one of his forearms to cushion her from the roughness of the bark and her legs up over his thighs.

She felt safe, protected and forgetful of the world as Inuyasha pressed forward into her with another kiss. It was sweet but not nearly enough for what either of them wanted and Inuyasha sent his mouth slanting across hers as he reached down between them in a teasing manner, sending his claws in a delicate tour of her quivering body.

One more pulsing beat and Kagome wasn't sure she could take it anymore. She wanted him now and in a couple of directly demanding moves had him moaning hotly in her ear as he moved fiercely against and then, in a slow slide into her. Kagome somehow knew, even in her ecstasy that this was important to Inuyasha and held him all the more tenderly as he moved with her until she no longer could hold that thought. Some pressure from the roots of the tree cradling her hips caught her and she was unable to contain a wailing cry as he convulsed with a shattered groaning version of her name and she lost control completely.

Inuyasha held the girl against him a sort of astonishment as they both wound down into loose-limbed slackness that was nearly a mutual faint. 'Man," was all his dazed mind could say, 'we gotta do that again.' He shifted her body in his arms; feeling waves of relaxation that threatened to make him just flop over on the ground with her in his arms and pass out. 'When we've got the strength.'

He rested his own back against the Goshinboku's trunk and rocked his head back to see the stars through it's twisted branches for a space before the relentless beat of the not-so distant city traffic caused him to poke Kagome awake so they could clean themselves up and move inside.

........

The shrine complex was a fairly large one and had always been built on different levels. It was not until they reached the top of another short flight of steps that they could see the Higurashi house down in its little dell. It was dark.

Inuyasha glanced again up at the stars in puzzlement. It was still before moonrise and the house would normally be showing lights in various rooms at this time. Kagome was holding his hand and Yawned.

"The porch light is on. Everyone must be out." She started down the hill, her fingers tangled with his. "Wonder if Souta fixed the car after all.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Kagome opened the side door and turned on the lights. The yellow room lit up with a cheery glow, showing the kitchen table filled with neat stacks of paper and Mama's inking set, a few brushes and an ink stone sat off to one side. Which probably explained why Kagome's fingers had smuts of ink on them from the doorknob. She glanced over at the sink but it was half-full of dishes so she stepped into the darkened bathroom to rinse her hands.

Inuyasha remained outside of the house in the darkness of the surrounding yard. He found himself looking around, nostrils aquiver. There was something…not…right…

A confused crash and the infuriated yowl of a cat brought him inside to be confronted by the sight of a sopping Buyo standing in the center of the kitchen table and dripping all over the papers scattered there.

Kagome stepped into the kitchen holding a towel and crying out, "You're a bad cat, Buyo! Get off of there!"

Buyo scrambled in a shower of damp paper to land with a wet plop on the floor and Kagome dove to catch him with the towel. She spoke over wheezing cat complaints as she dried the animal off. "He was sleeping in the bathroom sink of all places. I didn't even see him until I turned the water on and he pitched a fit. How did he ever fit in it?" She paused at the lack of response and looked around. " Inuyasha? Aren't you even listening?"

He wasn't. He was circling the kitchen in a suspicious manner, apparently trying to catch some elusive scent. Kagome sank back on her heels staring at him as he dropped to a crouch and started sniffing the floor. Buyo dragged himself out of her slack hold and moved under the kitchen table to start a protracted bath.

A low growl from Inuyasha cut across Buyo's self-involved mutterings and the cat stopped, one leg extended up over its head, to watch Inuyasha slowly rise and lean over the scattered, water-stained, contents of the kitchen table.

"Inuyasha, what is it?"

"Sesshoumaru--" was the snarled reply.

Kagome stood up and looked about the kitchen a little frantically. Everything seemed undisturbed except for the mess on the table. Finally, she spotted the note on the front of the fridge and pulled it off of its clip with trembling fingers. "She's gone with him," she forced out. "This says they went shopping." Kagome rubbed a hand across her eyes. "My mother and Sesshoumaru went shopping?"

Higurashi-San sighed in repletion as she returned her chopsticks to their porcelain rest and surveyed her place setting. It had a full compliment of western-style flatware of which she had dared to use only two pieces, a knife and a fork. The rest of the array was bewildering to say the least and spying on other diners had not helped her as she did not want to get caught staring.

Not that she could prevent her eyes from roving the room. This was Maxim's de Paris situated on the lowest floor of the Ginza Sony building and largely considered to be the best French restaurant in Tokyo. A string quartet played softly in the background, seemingly absorbed in making beautiful music and paying no attention to the chattering diners and discreet waiters. The art nouveau mirrors on the walls reflected back the mellow lighting of the amazing stained glass ceiling.

A flicker of movement at her elbow alerted her to the presence of the waiter as he deftly removed her entrée and replaced with something in a tall glass. She was pleased to see a long handled spoon provided with it. "Parfait au coco á la nougatine crustilles d'ananas." Murmured the waiter and whisked around the table to reverently serve Sesshoumaru.

"Um, excuse me," Higurashi-San spoke up, "is my son behaving himself?"

Sesshoumaru looked faintly amused as he turned his head to regard the waiter.

The waiter paused, the tray of finished dishes deftly poised over his shoulder on the fingertips of one hand. "He is a very well-behaved guest Madame. There has no evidence of distress from the chef."

"We must not distress the chef?" Now Sesshoumaru actually sounded amused.

The waiter turned and bowed slightly, "Indeed, non, monsieur that would be very unfortunate. But tonight it is Chef Philippe Taquet running the kitchens and he is a man of sanguine temperament. If it had been chef Anton de Lapparent we may have had some trouble. He is less flexible about situations such as children in the kitchens."

"Well, let us be grateful chef Anton de Lapparent is off tonight." Sesshoumaru said sardonically and turned to Higurashi-San as the waiter shimmered off towards the kitchens. "There, you see? Nothing to worry about."

"Yes, I suppose you were right." She smiled at him and took a taste of the parfait. "I just had never thought of sending the children off to play in the kitchens as a viable option when they got bored at a restaurant. How clever you are to be sure."

Sesshoumaru picked up his demitasse cup and sipped it delicately.

Souta was in Heaven. Everything he did was really useful and not really too hard even though much of it was run by huge bizarre machines and seemed to include a lot of shouting. Washing vegetables was nice for instance.

He had lasted at the table approximately twenty minutes. Part of that was due to the fact that there were no familiar foods on the menu. He had made it through what seemed to be a fishcake salad but, after that, he just wasn't hungry. After the third sigh and picking up his flatware to rearrange it into families he had drawn an icy glance from Sesshoumaru-Sama.

Now, he knew making families of the table utensils was childish, but the blunt little knife at the top edge of his plate had seemed lost. Maybe threatened by the perfidious fork clan. So he had sent the sharp and serrated father knife out to find the child lost on the waste of the snowy tablecloth along with the father's great friend, the knife with a serrated edge but twin-pronged end (which made it a hanyou and so, in love with the spoon daughter). While the spoon women of the family huddled together for safety the father and his friend had set out in a slide along the tablecloth.

"Clink!" The hanyou knife had knocked into the base of one of the stemware glasses as he slid in his usual adventurous way amid the perilous forest of crystal.

"Souta," came the deep voice of Inuyasha's older brother. "Are you finding it difficult to keep still?"

Souta had gulped and raised his eyes to meet the cool gaze of this new and disturbing relative. The eyes were very like Inuyasha's he decided. Not just in appearance either. He had encountered just such a look from Inuyasha when the hanyou was thinking seriously about something and was caught off-guard for once by the non-threatening Souta. Clear-eyed and abstracted, a portion of attention had nevertheless been directed at him. Somewhat taken aback by this sudden familiarity Souta answered in all honesty. "Yes, I spent the whole afternoon eating snacks and I just can't eat anymore. Sorry."

Mama broke in in soft tones. "Why, Souta-Chan, that's a shame. It's not often you'll be in such a place as this. Just sitting here and not eating wouldn't be right." She bit her lips and hesitated, clearly embarrassed and disappointed. "I suppose we should go if you can't eat."

Souta had squirmed miserably and had been on the verge of telling his mother that he would sit still and touch nothing and enjoy it to remember forever when Sesshoumaru said "Nonsense. The boy will never forget this restaurant." And called over the maitre'd.

So much then, for Souta's presence at the table.

Instead, he was currently pressing a toggle switch that cranked a bin of potatoes and sent the peels flying in a sluice of water out the bottom. It roared like a giant blender mixing a load of duckpin bowling balls and vibrated excitingly. Souta grinned as he tugged the trolley with the deep bowl set into the center over to it.

"Souta-Chan," the voice of Hajime-San could barely be heard over the machine. "You're wanted topside."

"Oh." That probably meant it was time to go. Souta looked about the bustling prep room in dismay. "Take over for me, Hajime-San?"

Hajime grinned down at the boy, "Sure thing. Say, you're a good worker. Come back again, hear?"

Souta waved in acknowledgement and scampered off, dodging around the end of the stock rows and past the prep cooks, each rapidly slashing up selections of vegetables and putting the results in the small placement cups that would be brought up on trays to the main kitchen. One of the cooks looked up and gave a shout as he passed.

"Hey, kid, bring this with you!"

Souta stopped, balancing on one leg. The cook stepped over to him carrying one of the small placement trays with two bowls on it. Souta took it and looked down in puzzlement. One bowl contained very slender stalks of asparagus, the other, a tiny pile of what looked like black wood shavings.

"Take this to the master chef and hurry. Sliced truffles and baby asparagus do not keep!"

"Who's the master chef?" Souta called over his shoulder as he sped off up the stairs.

"The man with the tallest hat! What a question!" Followed a chorus of voices.

"Tallest hat. Tallest hat." Souta muttered to himself as he wove his way among the assorted workstations. He gripped the edges of the tray anxiously as he stared about but hanging pots and gouts of steam kept getting in the way. Every one up here had on a tall white hat of some sort. Something solid bumped against his back and sent him forward a few steps in a scramble to preserve the contents of his tray.

"Stay out of the line of traffic kid!" shouted the guy who was pushing a trolley of smoking haunches of beef towards a table where a man stood waiting, knives in hand.

"Sorry!" Souta squawked jerking out a bow. "Please, who's got the tallest hat?"

The man with the knives glanced at his tray and pointed forward with one of his gleaming blades. "Get it up front boy. You'll know the tallest hat when you see it. Go straight up to him, don't speak and place your tray about 20 centimeters from his left hand and then step back out of the way. And move it! I think he's assembling the dish now."

Souta trotted forward more surely now that he had a definite purpose and, stepping around a hooded broiler found himself at the front line. There, surrounded by a hum of quiet activity amidst all this noise was the cynosure of the kitchen, the head chef (or, as Souta would put it, the man with the tallest hat). He stood at a station on the line with pots before him on a set of flaming burners straining something through a conical bag into a small fry pan. A blue neckerchief adorned his back and his hat was indeed tall; a pleated, starched, linen confection that stood a good 46 centimeters above the wearer's head.

Souta advanced quickly and placed his tray where he had been told. Within moments the head chef's left hand left the handle of the fry pan and reached blindly to grasp the small bowl of asparagus tips. They were tossed into the pan with a light sizzle and deftly tossed for a few moments. As they were tossed the left hand reached as blindly as before to bring down an oval plate from the warm rack above and the contents of the pan were gently flipped onto it in an impossibly neat-looking pile. Again a reach and that hand dug into the bowl of sliced black truffle to sprinkle the aromatic fungus over the dish. A stroup of saffron hued sauce, two stems of chive and narcissus flower picked from a waiting bowl and the dish was done.

With a tap of the bell and a bellows of "Ceci est fini. Prochain ordre svp!" the great man turned and regarded Souta.

"And so, this is my baby-sitting charge?" he rumbled in some rather ersatz Japanese. Souta just gaped at him. The front of his white coat was decorated with pins and a golden medal was visible just under the knot at his neck. He was thin with a face so far removed from that of a regular Japanese that Souta would have swallowed the information that he was from a different planet entirely without much of a blink.

"I trust he has been no trouble."

Sesshoumaru spoke from behind Souta so suddenly that the poor boy jumped like an electrocuted frog and came perilously close to upsetting a rack of cooking utensils. He grabbed desperately onto the rack to steady both it and himself and missed some of what was being said because of the loud clatter caused by the swaying implements. When he could pay attention again he found the conversation was already over and stiff bows were being exchanged.

Souta hurriedly bowed too as an envelope changed hands and turned to follow Sesshoumaru out of the kitchens. "Boy, here." A hand was in front of his face holding a thousand yen note. "First professional money, Come back in a few years and we may have a place for you." Souta flushed red and took the note with a trembling hand. He risked a shy glance up at the head chef and found himself backing out of the kitchen in a flurry of bows as Sesshoumaru paused for an instant in the doorway and looked back.

"Thank you sir, I will not forget!" Souta clutched his pay to his chest and scurried to the door and out, heart pounding and a light ringing in his ears. He saw his mother standing at the door of the restaurant through a happy haze and got into the back of the wonderful car to ride in it and answer his mother at random as he gazed at the crispy thousand-yen note that he had earned all for himself.

It wasn't until the car slowed at a gate with a guard in a booth outside of a very tall and elegant -looking apartment building that he realized they had not gone home. "Mama?" he inquired, turning his head to look around at what little he could see in the gloom.

"This is where Sesshoumaru-Sama lives. He says that this is probably the best way of getting his brother Inuyasha over for a visit."

Souta scrunched up his brows in puzzlement as they swung into the underground parking garage. 'Why not just come over for a visit during the day?' He wondered as the darkness swallowed them up.

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	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"What is it with your menace of a brother?!"

Kagome's voice rang out in the little kitchen, causing Inuyasha's ears to clamp tightly back to his head and his eyes to nearly close in a reflexive wince. She had such a gift for pitching the tone of her voice to portend trouble on the home front with a nearly head-splitting middle "C". The girl stood in front of him like an avenging fury with the button less front of her shirt pulling open to reveal her now nearly chronic lack of a bra and her mother's note clenched in one hand. "Why would he stoop to Naraku's tricks of kidnapping and lies? I thought you two weren't fighting anymore." Her chest heaved, distracting him badly.

Inuyasha reached for her wrist and held her arm still as he took the crumpled note from her hand. "You're sweating all over the scent markings." he grumbled as he brought the paper to his nose and inhaled. "There's no fear here.' He declared. "On the note or in the room. She went with him willingly." he released her arm and glanced around the kitchen again, keeping his eyes away from her. "They've been gone for a few hours. It's late. When do the stores close?"

Kagome looked up from where she was contemplating the ruined mess of wedding invitations scattered on the kitchen table. She was trying to rescue any that were not wet from the bottom of the pile but she had only found one or two in good condition so far. "It's after ten. There is no way they could still be shopping. And for all we know there's school tomorrow. I didn't see any roving bands of monsters like they were claiming on the news so there's no reason for the schools to stay closed."

Inuyasha grunted and pulled open the refrigerator. "That doesn't mean anything. They probably found places to hide. Better eat…This looks like it's going to be a long night."

The girl was silent as she watched the love of her life slice into a water-filled package of tofu and take the pasty brick out to eat it as it was. He did not look like he was enjoying it but he ate it unhesitatingly in swift economical bites. He paused for a moment and glanced at her before shoving another package in her direction. It was a container of miso paste. There was no way she was letting either of them eat that straight out of the box.

"Umm, I'll make a couple of sandwiches."

"Good, we can bring 'em along. But be quick about it. I want to get moving and find that asshole. 'Bout time we talked." He hooked a container of juice out of the refrigerator and proceeded to guzzle it down.

The sound of a large and poorly muffled motorcycle pulling up the service drive of the shrine drew them both to the kitchen door and they watched as Jukuryo gunned the bike slightly to take the hill and park behind the cinder-blocked Nissan.

"Whoo-hoo!" Jijii-Chan shouted as he waved his scrawny arms over his head, sleeves flapping. Inuyasha and Kagome stared at the vision of a shrine priest riding in an antique side car. Both the side car and the motorcycle looked to be relics from the second world war. The bike vibrated alarmingly until the motor cut off with a wet cough that produced a plume of greasy black smoke.

Jukuryo got creakingly off of the bike revealing an outfit of black leather so old that it was split in the creases. He had a pair of aviator goggles over his eyes and smelled of fresh gasoline and beer.

Inuyasha stepped slightly in advance of Kagome and didn't mince any words; "Where's Sesshoumaru? We need to talk to him. Now."

Jukuryo's eyes gleamed red as he sniggered under his breath. "He wanted to speak to you twenty-four hours ago. What's so changed now that you suddenly want to speak to him?"

"He took Kagome's mother and her brother Souta out shopping. He's not the kind of guy to do that sort of thing for anybody. Now it's so late that the stores are all closed and they're still not back." Inuyasha folded his arms. "So, yeah, we want to speak to him. We've got the staff so he can just back off."

The bird youkai sniffed. "I don't detect any such thing around here."

"It's safe out of harm's way. We'll cough it up when we're damned well ready to." Kagome nodded her head in staunch agreement.

The old youkai cocked his head and studied the hanyou before him. "I know I'm right." He tapped the hanyou's sternum with one clawed fingertip, causing a surprised flinch in response. "You are the Inuyasha of childhood legend. The Inuyasha who sought the Shikon-no-Tama and decimated large segments of the daemon population in the process. The hanyou who allied himself to powerful humans, both living and dead and destroyed the monster that would have eaten the world for all living beings." The old youkai shook himself as if trying to shake off unpleasant memories.

Then he resumed the attack. "Just as Sesshoumaru is the very same youkai that visited my father when I was just a chick. He is not much older than that now (If I can trust my nose, and I do) and you are practically a pup. So, what gives? Are you two able to travel through the march of time as well? This on top of you having very nearly absolute command over your blood and innate power?"

Jukuryo looked at Inuyasha and saw him clearly for what he was, along with the shrine girl who would always be beside him. To sigh over the ill-advised relationship would be a waste of breath. Far too much youkai nobility and far too much human need for love and warmth. He frowned portentously at the pair and waited for an answer.

Inuyasha's eyes swiveled to the silent humans. The girl stood at attention, as unable as he to fathom whether this would mean trouble or not. Jijii-Chan looked on in frowning concentration. Almost against his will, his lips opened to answer. "Sesshoumaru played his part. He was there at the end. Does no one remember? It's only been a few weeks for me---us, I mean, but there must have been talk."

Jukuryo sighed and stepped away to move past him into the kitchen. "No, the legends only mention you and some half-naked girl with a bow." He gave a significant glance at Kagome who only then realized her disheveled appearance and reached to tug the gaping neck of her shirt closed. "I will give you your brother's home address upon condition of a binding agreement to explain how all this happened at the first convenient opportunity."

Inuyasha was following him when Kagome's warm hand slipped into his. He paused and looked at her and she smiled solemnly. "It's been three weeks, four days and fifteen hours since the end of Naraku. See, I have it on my chronometer." she displayed the watch on her wrist, a gift from her friends at school for her last birthday.

He stared at it, looked at her, and growled. "That thing is off by a few years." He turned his back and stomped up the steps with a suddenly annoyed Kagome following him.

"O.K. Fine. I was just showing you."

"Keh, like I care. Your blinky wrist thingamajig doesn't do anything we want and it's ugly."

"What do you mean? It does all kinds of things!" She said, still fingering the watch on her wrist.

"Like how?" He had stopped, blocking her way in through the door. She seemed about ready to cry. "Is it going to tell whether or not Sesshoumaru is going to harm your brother or mother?" His voice softened as he finished the sentence and, rather than going on, he caught her in a rough embrace before he spoke again to her. "Look, Kagome.." His voice was warm and anxious.

"Are you two idiots coming in or do we lock you out of the house?" Jijii-Chan exclaimed irritably, having had enough of the adolescent courting of the two to last him for a while.

It took a few minutes to dig out a general map of Tokyo showing its wards and then to draw another one that Kagome could understand with the address carefully penciled in showing its chome, block number and building number located in a quite upscale residential area. Japanese addresses do not appear to be particularly easy to understand even for native Japanese but Jukuryo stated that Inuyasha could rely on his nose after that and argued heatedly with the dog daemon about the wisdom of just smashing in through Sesshoumaru's windows. Kagome, long pressed into making good use of such delays, took the opportunity to change her clothes and gather a few things.

As she padded back down the stairs from her room she could see Inuyasha resettling the webbing which held Tetsusaiga firmly against his back, map furled up and thrust into the front of his jeans. He was still exchanging rude comments with both Jukuryo and Jijii-Chan as to whether or not keeping a low profile would be any good in the long run. So she just crossed the kitchen and opened the back door to stand on the back steps expectantly waiting.

Inuyasha gave a final bark of derision and swept past her with a practiced catch at her wrist that landed her firmly on his back. Within moments they were airborne and headed for Yamanote ward.

The two old men stood with light falling about them from the open door, looking off into the dark. The taller of the two cleared his throat and reached for a cigarette. "You heard what he said didn't you?"

"About the staff? Out of harm's way, that's what he said."

Jukuryo lit a cigarette and passed it to Jijii-Chan before lighting one for himself. "And where might that be?"

Jijii-Chan shrugged. "Where else would a miko think a magical object was safe and inert? Sealed in the sanctuary of the shrine of course." Jijii-Chan took a flashlight that he always kept by the back door for nighttime perambulations about the shrine precinct and led the way. "It's an ancient tradition, you know, to place things in safe keeping under the eyes of the kami. Kagome has been raised in these traditions all her life. You'd never know it by her behavior, but she has inherited great spiritual power from her ancestry. Naturally through me." He inhaled a puff of smoke in great satisfaction as he led the way to the darkened shrine office.

"You don't say. Then you can unquestionably undo any spell she lays down?" Inquired his companion.

"Of course." Jijii-Chan clicked on the overhead light and went over to the deep shelves on the wall where his priestly paraphernalia was kept. "And of course I do not believe those kids have the right idea." He turned and thumped the wooden box onto his desk and moved to collect his vestments.

Jukuryo's eyes gleamed red as he studied Jijii-Chan's back. "Naturally not," he agreed equably. He initiated his own search of the deeper desk drawers for the sacramental saké coming up with the appropriate bottle within a few moments.

"No." Stated Jijii-Chan. "They need only to hand over the staff to get my daughter and my grandson away from that evil daemon. It makes no sense to leave it behind. So I will get it for them and follow with it to save the day." He finished on a triumphant note just before diving his head into the swathing folds of his ceremonial saifuku without noting the dismay on his old friend's face.

"You intend to confront Sesshoumaru-Sama with his own magical staff? Inuyasha didn't even tell us how he obtained it." Jukuryo paused and frowned as Jijii-Chan's tousled head emerged from the neck of his robes. "Nor did he say what happened to the little toad daemon, Jaken."

Jijii-Chan tidied his hair and settled his tall ceremonial hat. "Probably got dragged off to hell. That's where all naughty daemons get dragged off to."

Jukuryo did not much like this answer and took a defiant swig of the sacramental saké as they made their way across the shrine compound again to prepare themselves for entering the sanctuary. Within a few minutes they were at the shrine doors to the Haiden. Jijii-Chan's beard quivered as he spotted the depleted condition of the bottle.

"Give me that! I need it for the benediction." He brusquely snatched the bottle away and poured a good measure of it into his wooden bucket and dropped the mace-like lustrum into it. "There, that's more like it." He stated, making sure to take a healthy swallow himself before passing the bottle back to his friend.

As Jukuryo gazed sadly at the now nearly empty bottle of sacramental wine Jijii-Chan slid the doors of the shrine wide open with a practiced heave of his shoulders. The hall was darkly chill and silent and both old men hesitated at the entrance before venturing in. Jijii-Chan felt a frisson of unaccustomed self-doubt as he regarded the normally welcoming environs of the Haiden. Jukuryo's reason for hesitation was more complex. Not least of which was the traditional barrier to the entrance of daemons placed at the doorways of shrines throughout Japan. This one was very old and weak (not having been renewed in many years) he waited for the shrine priest to make the first move.

Jijii-Chan began to rumble an impressively deep and unintelligible chant as he strode down the center of the Haiden, He repeatedly dipped the lustrum into the wooden saké bucket and shook droplets to either side towards the dimly seen contorted figures of Shintô kaiga statues that stood along the walls.

Jukuryo followed his human friend carefully, placing his feet as nearly as possible into the old man's foot prints. Best not to risk trouble. He had a youthful memory of having been stuck on a stepping stone in the middle of a stream for two days by an irate priest for disrespectful profanity and the experience still occasionally would find an echo in his nightmares centuries later.

Jijii-Chan finally reached the sanctuary screen and stopped in surprise to find one of the shrine's purification arrows set on top of the offering tables. It was odd that it would be pointing inward toward the shrine that way, but with a shrug and an extra shake of the lustrum over it he passed on and rounded the end of the screen to enter the Honden.

At first glance it appeared undisturbed but a more careful inspection revealed the disturbed cloth that had covered the mirror and the carelessly disarranged folds of the cloth that draped the table. Jijii-Chan grunted and bent down arthritically to feel under the table for this famous staff.

Although his fingers contacted nothing a sliding scrape of wood upon the floor was audible. The old man harrumphed to himself and got down on his hands and knees to reach further under the table. He felt a sensation of movement and the table cloth was disturbed. In astonishment Jijii-Chan got up, supporting himself on the table, and looked over it to the space of bare wood floor beyond. There lay the staff, topped incongruously with a pair of Bunraku puppet heads sharing a tightly tied blindfold.

"What on earth?" The shrine priest hurried around the table and bent to pick up the staff which promptly shot away from him across the floor as if he had kicked it.

Jukuryo's patience was wearing thin and his pointy-eared bald old head edged itself around the side of the screen in time to see this. His jaw dropped open as he watched the old shrine priest, robes billowing, chasing after the staff in a bent posture with hand outstretched as it scooted away from. He would have laughed if circumstances had been different. As it was he gnawed his lip and cast his eyes about in an effort to think of a way of catching the thing.

Jijii-Chan, seeing his old friend, stopped and straightened up. "So? Why are you just standing there gawking? Can't you see I need some help?"

A clawed finger tip was stuck past the screen to be greeted by a shower of sparks. "That's why. Some one has placed a fresh and strong anti-daemon barrier on this sanctuary. I'm afraid you're on your own."

Jijii-Chan looked about him suspiciously. "Barrier? What barrier? And why would it work on you?" His face was red and he looked both out of breath and disturbed.

"Oh, for pity's sake!" Jukuryo clapped a hand to his forehead and looked up for heavenly guidance. "Look, maybe we can't get the staff and we'll just have to leave it here. We should follow those kids and keep them out of trouble."

"Nothing doing!" was the mulish answer and in a flash of movement Jijii-Chan ripped the tall hat from his head and used it as a scoop to catch the escaping staff as it shot away from him at his approach. He stood up with a justifiable air of triumph and the butt of the staff quivering where it stuck out of his bag-like ceremonial hat. "Now, we go help the kids!"

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	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Tokyo went under curfew on that rather blustery Autumn night. The quiet hours of daylight had caused the powers that be in the city to believe that the populace of Roppangi had suffered from some kind of collective delusion: structural damage to businesses and video footage of a home guard with a cut finger from an apparently naked blue chicken be-damned. The blue chicken had escaped from its cage anyway and the calls from irate working parents to their assorted chome administration offices had amounted to a general outcry. The school closings and the entire emergency status were regretted and it had seemed better to just get the city back on normal footing ASAP.

But that was before the prime minister was engulfed in a glistening clear gelatin as he was making the opening comments of a press statement on the safety of the streets in front of the National Diet Building and swept off down a conveniently open storm drain. So, as it has been said, Tokyo was placed under a curfew and the streets were cleared of all but emergency traffic from the hour of 10:30 p.m. on. (The prime minister had been abducted at 7:45p.m. so, that was really pretty quick action as government things go).

The few shops and bars that remained open had running reports on television and radio blaring the most recent conflicting rumors of everything from lurking dragons to infestations of giant rats. "Stay inside, the Home Guard is monitoring the situation and will deal severely with malefactors." This injunction was ignored by the die-hard regulars and clueless gaijin who crowded the counters of those establishments. The regulars were there to collect gossip and place bets. The gaijin were there wondering if now was the time to contact their respective embassies for instruction.

As it was, the majority of Tokyo's citizens remained inside. For the most part in a state of pleasurably voyeuristic terror as news reports mounted up about the infestation of creatures roaming its streets. In a way, it was like an event such as a major earthquake warning or a tsunami threat for most of the families crowded around their TV sets and radios. All around Tokyo little old grandmothers were saying "Isn't it time to shut the gas off and go to a basement and get under a table? That's what we did when I was a lass."

There were an intrepid few who were out wandering the deserted streets on that eerie night and that is where we belong;

0...o…0

Wheeling unsteadily up the street that led towards the apothecary shop Houjou leaned into each pedal-stroke. Something about the gears seemed out of whack but he felt too muzzy in the head just then to stop and remember how to fix it The road, dark and empty, stretched before him in one of those endless ascents which bicyclists either find a challenge or a darned good reason not to ride a bike in that direction.

At the top of the street he stopped and rested with his feet on the ground and his head propped by a forearm on the handle bars, breathing hard. His nose was running and he sniffed miserably. That weird guy. The one who was hanging around Kagome. Houjou distinctly remembered the guy's scowling face just before everything went black. Was that why the back of his head hurt so? He gave another, stronger sniff which brought a flare of pain along the back of his neck into what seemed to be his very brain.

'Of course, that wouldn't be the only reason..' A vision played across his mind's eye of a green cliff side over the ocean and anti-daemon charms sparkling on the grass. A woman's voice speaking and the sudden lassitude and warmth from that wonderful staff. 'Ah, yes, the staff.' How could he have forgotten?

A soft churr interrupted his line of thought. He lifted his head and squinted to focus in the dimness.

There, in the middle of the empty street, stood what had to be the cutest and most delicate big lizard he had ever seen. It was the size of the American turkey, standing about as tall but with a long tail which it lifted as it moved. The forelegs ended in three-fingered hands tipped with claws and its brown hide sported darker spots along its spine.

The creature cocked its head with a bird-like movement and advanced a few steps. Another soft churr brought an answering echo and Houjou looked up to see several more of them advancing along the street towards him There were seven of them and they seemed to move as a flock. They reminded Houjou rather of his grandmother's pet chickens in the way they swirled about him expectantly, surrounding his bike.

"Shoo," he said, much as he would have to his grandmother's chickens and began to pedal his bike again. It definitely had something wrong with its gears. The lizard-birds kept pace easily and showed a tendency to pop in front of the bike and stop to look at him with an inquiring churr. Up close, they were not so cute. The hide showed short, fibrous, feathers concentrated on the under sides of their arms and their beak-like faces sported some nasty-looking teeth.

"Shoo." He repeated nervously and gently swung his foot to clear a path. The creature that he swung at jumped deftly to the side and hissed. As if that were a signal they all stopped, necks raised to their fullest extent, and gazed at him out of round eyes. Houjou's nervousness increased. "Please move?"

The one in front of him dipped its head and took a nip at his front tire. "Hey, cut that out!" Houjou jerked at his handlebars to free the bike only to find two more of the things grabbing at his bike from behind. "What is this?" He spun around on his seat and swatted at them.

One loosed its hold on his bike frame long enough to raise its head on its sinewy neck and hiss straight in his face. Houjou scrambled off the bike in alarm and backed off in a hurry.

He watched in dismay as the creatures surrounded his new bike and began to drag it off between them. "Hey!" He called out and took a few following steps. But several of the creatures heads turned back towards him to hiss and a couple separated from the group to trot back towards him, tails up and necks extended. They gave hissing coughs and flexed their clawed hands.

Houjou suddenly discovered that discretion is the better part of valor and legged it in the opposite direction. He was young and athletic and covered a fair distance before having to slow his breakneck pace. He became aware again of his surroundings and checked behind him for signs of pursuit. There were none he sucked in air in grateful gulps while leaning against the wall of a building.

The apothecary shop was diagonally across the street from him and he pushed himself off of the wall to stagger in that direction. He was so blown by his sprint that he stared numbly at the closed sign in the shop windows for some moments before he realized that the door was locked.

He released the door handle and dragged himself into a trot to go around the side of the building to the back staircase. This led up to the cramped bed-sitter that the clerk, Genji, called home. Houjou had been to visit once or twice to examine particularly interesting finds from the basement of the old building. There had even been the preserved remains of a fetus floating in a bottle but they had been unable to decide if it was human or that of a monkey.

There was no answer to his knock for a few moments and Houjou was just about to turn away when the sound of a tortured human scream sounded from inside. He froze, and was staring at the door in shock when it swung open to reveal the rumpled figure of Genji-San looking inquiringly out.

"Oh, it's you, Houjou-Kun." Genji glanced back distractedly over his shoulder and then swung the door open with a shrug. "Well, it's not like you haven't seen the mess before. Come in. Leave the monsters outside."

Houjou stepped in, pausing to toe off his shoes in the concrete floored excuse for an entranceway. In the manner of such places the living area was differentiated by floor cover as much as by anything else. The first few feet past the entrance had a wood flooring that extended into the closet-kitchen and equally rudimentary bathroom next to it. The rest of the floor was covered in tatami mats to the front window. There was a low folding table set up in the middle of the room and a wide screen TV on a stand. An in-wall closet and a tall set of shelves under a canvas cover completed the rooms appointments. It would have been ugly but O.K., lit as it was by a single florescent light in the ceiling, if it had not been covered in a flood of magazines, clothes and the occasional take-out box.

Genji used his foot to push some of the rubbish on the floor aside to make a clear space and went to resume his place on the mats by the TV. "Have a seat. I'll just be a minute. I want to go back to my last save point."

Houjou dropped to sit cross-legged on the mats and surreptitiously straightened a stack of manga next to him while Genji took up his game controller and flipped though screens. "I don't suppose you know any cheat codes for Metal Gear Solid. I need infinite health to beat the torture room in area 14. I don't care about Meryl but I don't want to have to give in and catch a cold."

Houjou took one look and gave him the answer. "No, I don't play fighting games." Genji sighed and turned off the game, returning the set to one of the now ubiquitous news updates.

"Listen, Genji." Houjou shifted uncomfortably. "Are you able to get into the shop downstairs?"

"Well, yeah. I'm the one who locks it up at night." He cocked his head and looked at his visitor pensively. "Say, you're the cautious type, Houjou. What brings you out on a night like this when monsters are supposedly roaming the streets."

"They are. A group of them just stole my bike."

Genji was electrified. "No way! The Olympic? Man, that thing was boss. Did they steal your money? It doesn't look like you got hurt."

"No, they just wanted the bike…Not that they can even ride it. These things were lizards and their legs were too short." Houjou paused and contemplated his misfortune for a bitter moment before remembering the purpose of his visit. "Anyway, I came over here to see if I could purchase the rest of those amulets off of you."

"The Chinese anti-daemon amulets? They're here. I brought the box up here to finish sorting it out. Yamaguchi-San came by right after you left and took up the rest of the afternoon. Dear, sweet, frigging old plum that she is." He pointed. "It's in the corner. Help yourself to what you want and I'm sure we can settle on a price that the boss will be happy with. He thought the shipment was a loss until you came in. Just tell me about the lizards"

Houjou scooted over and started sifting the items in the box with trembling fingers as he recounted his recent experience. There they were, a whole bunch of them, their knotted red strings tangled together and the odd stone pendants clicking.

"How much for the lot?"

"Huh? For the lot? How many?" Genji scooted over next to him and fished out the invoice. "I think these were billed on the invoice as 'sacred luck sticks'. Yeah, here they are. Hmm." He fished around in some papers for a moment and came up with a small abacus. "How about ¥15,00? Just make a round number? I left one out for myself to buy. You never know"

Houjou pulled his billfold out of his pocket while Genji teased the strings loose so he could take one of the amulets. "Yeah, you never do know."

In his billfold he found the slip of paper with Yasuku Ryosei's name and cell phone number on it. He passed over the money and while Genji wrote up a sales slip and searched for change he pulled out his on cell phone and dialed it without pausing to analyze the strong impulse that made him do that.

0-o-0

Kagome was severely puzzled to have a buzzer vibrating against her hip and wasted an instant scanning the sky and slapping at imaginary youki insects before she realized that the vibration was coming from the cell phone in her cargo pants pocket. She braced herself against Inuyasha's back and slid her hand down to pull the shiny red phone out and activate it. Fortunately, Inuyasha was in a mid-sky set of movements so she was able to thumb the phone open and activate it fairly easily.

"Moshi-moshi," she said experimentally and awaited results.

"Uhh, Ryosei-San?" The connection was fine but the wind whistling through her hair was causing her hearing to go off. She could've sworn that…

"Ryosei-San? This is Houjou. The guy you kidnapped this afternoon?"

"Houjou-Kun? What are you doing on this phone?" Kagome gripped the hair at the nape of Inuyasha's neck and leaned back, twisting her head to get out of the wind. She could feel the rumble of Inuyasha's growl between her thighs.

"Who's this?"

"Houjou -Kun, this is Higurashi Kagome. Where are you? How did you get this number? We were so worried when we returned to where we left you and found you gone."

Houjou ignored her question. "Where are you now? There seems to be a lot of interference."

"Well, we're en route to somewhere right now." She was interrupted as Inuyasha choose that moment to commence a jerking series of short jumps that had her plastered to his back with her rump rising up in the air with each savage impact. She yanked at his hair and gripped the phone to her ear even more tightly. "What? I'm sorry, something's not acting right!" She shouted this last into Inuyasha's back-turned ear and had the mean satisfaction of seeing them both clamp tight to his head.

"I said, what's the address of the place you're going to? I'll find a way to meet you there!" Houjou's voice crackled over the receiver and Inuyasha's ears quivered.

"Oh!" Kagome squeaked as Inuyasha bounced off of a building cornice with a particularly hard thump. She reeled off Sesshoumaru's address without a second thought. This was Houjou-Kun after all. She gave an even louder "Oh!" as she was dumped unceremoniously off of her perch and had the cell phone snatched out of her hand.

Inuyasha wasn't sure how to talk to the thing and settled for simply holding the phone up and roaring into it. "Stop fucking calling my wife!!!!" With a snarl he snapped the phone shut and tossed it into Kagome's lap where she half sprawled on the sloping side of the roof they were on. Speaking somewhat less heatedly, he continued; "And Kagome, you stop using me as a table. My back is not your business-office."

She hid her blush by brushing the tumbled hair out of her face as she sat up more erectly. "Well, the call might have been important. So I answered it."

"That thing takes messages. Why do you even have it along?"

"I…I thought that I could return it to Ryosei-San when she's rescued. It didn't seem right to keep it."

Inuyasha leaned down to pull her to her feet. "Still doesn't explain why that limp noodle called you." He turned his attention to brushing off her backside.

"Uh, he didn't." The brushing hand paused. "He was calling Ryosei. It's her phone after all." The hand resumed its motion, working its way up her spine to stop in a light scratch between her shoulder blades. "Mmm, over just a bit." She twitched. He shifted movements accordingly.

"Tired?" She nodded silently but her shoulders were relaxing.

"They're alright aren't they? Sesshoumaru wouldn't…"

Inuyasha abandoned her back and tugged at her wrist. "C'mon, let's go. It's unlike Sesshoumaru to kidnap anyone. Let alone even bother to talk to them. From what Jaken said, he's been in this time for a good twenty years or so. But I don't think he can have changed all that much.

"Look at your map. Are we getting close?"

She pulled her maps out and checked before nodding. She pointed at a building situated in a tree-filled park of its own. Dwarfed by the towering high-rises around it, it nevertheless drew the eye. It was large but only about four or five stories tall, its sharply-pitched roofs were softly under lit by a golden wash of light so that it seemed almost a fairytale castle.

"See, that's the Imperial Palace. Sesshoumaru's building should be almost straight beyond that in the next district."

He had her remount and set off moving rapidly towards their destination in a beeline that somehow had to include a quick run along the ridgepole of the topmost roof of the Imperial Palace.

Kagome was not surprised that they left ringing alarms in their wake and a disturbed ants nest of activity. "You took a real risk, Inuyasha!" She exclaimed into his ear. "What if they had started to shoot?"

"With what? No one was outside."

Kagome sighed and promised herself to demonstrate remote operation to him at the earliest opportunity. Maybe a visit to a electronic toy store was in order. She could dimly hear the beat of a helicopter off in the distance and huddled against his back. Inuyasha's swift and erratic movements left it circling around in a search pattern behind them and Inuyasha slowed to a stop on a roof near to an apartment building in the high-rent district. Wide windows gave onto generous balconies with potted trees and hanging gardens on them. Through the windows they could catch glimpses of an array of living spaces that looked like a collage of decorating magazine layouts.

Kagome checked the hand-drawn map and the apartment numbers in dismay. There were so many, and how did you tell where one apartment ended and another began without entering the building? It wasn't like some of the older apartment buildings with a regular façade. They would have to enter the building and check for apartment numbers or take a wild guess.

She glanced dubiously over at Inuyasha, still defiantly hanyou, and down at the street. A booth guarded the entrance of the underground garage. She had no doubt that there were attendants in the front foyer too. "Umm, Inuyasha, maybe you should ch--"

"Nothing doing." He interrupted with a snap. "There is no way I'm showing up at Sesshoumaru's front door as some measly human knocking to get in."

"But how else do we find his apartment?"

He indicated the top left corner apartment with an impatient sweep of his hand. "It's that one. He's not trying to hide or anything. Smell's flapping right there in the open." He started to readjust his baldric. "So, you wait here and I'll.."

"No way."

He sighed. "I'll get your mother and Souta.."

"I said you're not leaving me here."

"I'm going to.." His voice was tightening in exasperation.

"No, Inuyasha. You take me to my mother right now!"

With a snarl he jerked her onto his back and leapt, careless consequences, to land on the railing of the corner apartment he had indicated. He was still standing over that precipitous drop, with Kagome clinging to his back when a figure appeared from within the apartment. The slider shot open and Sesshoumaru stepped out onto the balcony, the evil sword Toukajin in his hand.

"Well? Are you coming or going?" He inquired.

o.0.o

To be continued…..

……………………………….................................


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Inuyasha was still. There was a faint breeze lifting his hair and he could feel the warm weight of the girl resting against his back without the slightest movement beyond the rapid beating of her heart and the light catch of her breath. He stood poised on the banister to the balcony of his brother's apartment perfectly ready to step forward to face him or leap backwards to trust his own luck in a free fall.

Sesshoumaru seemed to be at least partially aware of this and made no move to precipitate any action. He stood at the open doorway of a moderately-sized room containing a large desk and a wall full of books and scrolls visible through the plate glass windows that opened onto the balcony on two sides. The living quarters extended beyond that room in a slightly zigzag manner that opened up a lot of window space. To the left a recessed living room could be observed where both Souta and Higurashi-Sama were apparently talking together on a couch.

Neither brother realized it, but, due to the curfew, the constant thrum of the city was muted if not truly gone. There was no sound of traffic in the streets to speak of and little in the skies beyond the bumble-bee-like wanderings of the helicopter searching for them over the Imperial Palace and the occasional twittering of a late-nesting barn swallow.

A few moments stretched into an eternity before Sesshoumaru lowered the point of Toukijin to the concrete pavement of the balcony and deliberately thrust it in slightly with a grating sound. "The Mahou-Tsukai is no part of this. She should go inside and see her family."

Inuyasha dropped down from the railing of the balcony and allowed Kagome to slide to her feet. She thrust herself backwards to break his loosened grip and stepped quickly to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. Her shoes had been lost at some point. Over Asahi street if she didn't miss her guess.

"Sesshoumaru." She said in a half-whisper. "I have always given you credit for being a civilized being." She could almost feel Inuyasha's attention intensify, his eyes shifting to her in a quick flick before returning to a steady stare at his half brother. "I don't see why you should insult me so."

Sesshoumaru merely lifted his chin and gazed down his nose at her. "Mahou-Tsukai. Witch, I name you. You are no longer a miko; you are a woman with a full life mate that acts with all the lack of restraint of a well-moneyed widow. And yet you can still purify in devastating attack...As I have had occasion to see for myself." He did not smile but his face gentled. "Truly it is not meant as an insult. Go and see your family, I must speak with Inuyasha." His gaze returned to the hanyou.

Inuyasha turned his head towards her and caught her by one knuckle under her chin. In any other situation he would have done no such thing but now, before his brother, he was reiterating his declaration: and took quickly everything from the kiss he could get. He had always been afraid that their "forever" would be too short to bear and he could barely force himself to trust Sesshoumaru even this far.

"Kagome, go inside and see your family. Sesshoumaru and I will have a friendly little discussion about etiquette and the proper fucking way to do things and then we will go home. Should only take a minute."

Kagome's whispered response was almost lost against his mouth but he heard it as a nearly psychic thrum.

"Liar."

She returned the kiss but drew back and, with a decisive step, crossed the balcony to Sesshoumaru. He drew himself up at her approach, sword grating slightly on the pavement. She slowed her steps and came to a stop a mere arm's length away from him. With an almost lazy smile she held his eyes and spoke. "I still prefer Miko. Give me the sword."

What few sounds there were in the night seemed to fall silent as Sesshoumaru gazed back at her without response. His face was still but his right hand slowly reached across his body to rest on his left shoulder, fingers stroking as if to ease some old pain or touch a warmth that was not there.

Her extended hand drifted up slightly as if she too, felt his lack. "No."

She stopped, hand suspended in midair.

"I prefer to retain my weapon unpurified." Sesshoumaru's eyes sought his bother's as he spoke. "I will go and hang it up…Miko." He suited action to the word and swiftly turned away to step inside and place his weapon on the teakwood sword rack that was standing there.

Inuyasha's eyebrows shot up to disappear behind his unruly bangs as he went to stand near Kagome and watch his brother through the window. A movement caught the corner of his eye and he turned his head to see Higurashi-Sama crossing the wide expanse of the living room to slide open a door that gave onto the balcony from there.

"There you are Kagome-Chan, Inuyasha. Kagome, come in and see this amazing apartment that Inuyasha's brother has. Its got three bathrooms, can you imagine that? Three. And such a view too. I think our whole house would fit inside this place with room to spare." She leaned out further as Kagome approached her. "Inuyasha, dear, do ask Sesshoumaru if he wants some tea things set up on the balcony table for you. Tell him it would be no bother."

"Uh, sure." The slider closed behind them and he could see Kagome and her mother making their way across the apartment talking volubly all the while. A step sounded and Sesshoumaru was standing near him staring over his shoulder into the living room where Kagome's mother appeared to be giving a sort of guided tour to the rapt attention of her daughter. They disappeared through a doorway.

Inuyasha looked at his brother, inhaled and then let out the breath with a faint woof. "Kitchen?"

Sesshoumaru frowned faintly, staring at the door the two women had gone through. "No. Bathroom."

"Oh. Figures. Anyway, she told me to ask you…"

"I heard." Sesshoumaru interrupted. "Perhaps it would be more conducive to business to talk in my study after all."

Inuyasha nodded assent and followed him, not without a final glance into the living room. Souta was asleep on the couch clutching something to his chest with a smile on his face. It was a mightily puzzled hanyou that stepped through the slider into the study. Sesshoumaru was already seating himself behind the desk and drawing off a cup of water from a water cooler standing by the wall.

The two walls that were not windows held closed cabinets and a broad set of bookshelves heavily laden with massive tomes and a pair of Tang dynasty horses.

Inuyasha stopped dead. 'Wait a minute..' he thought as he stared at the figurines. The red one he didn't know but the black one… "What are you doing with my horse?!" He stomped over to the bookshelf and lifted his hand to grab the figurine.

Thwap! A cone-shaped cup made of white paper bounced off of his wrist neatly spraying him in the face with water.

"It's my horse now and I'd thank you not to get my books wet."

Inuyasha ignored the runnels of ice cold water making their way down the neck of his T-shirt to snarl at his brother. "Whaddaya mean, 'My horse'? It's mine!"

"I mean I bought at a closed auction from a reputable youkai antique dealer yesterday. I think it looks rather well up there. It completes the set." Sesshoumaru sat in disdainful calm as if he had never sunk to throwing a paper cup in his life.

"What are you doing buying youkai antiquities? Don't you have enough junk?"

"What are you doing selling off family heirlooms?"

"It's mine! I can do what I want with it! If I want to sell it I can sell it."

"So? Is that right?" Inuyasha nodded emphatically. "And you offered it for sale on the open market without restriction?"

Inuyasha didn't like where this appeared to be going but nodded his head again anyway. Sesshoumaru folded his arms. "I saw it and recognized it and bought it for slightly more than what it is worth (naming an uncomfortably high sum). Since it was for sale I took advantage of the opportunity."

Inuyasha starting digging in his pockets and pulling out banknotes to throw them down on the desk before him.

"It's not for sale." Murmured Sesshoumaru.

"Damn you Sesshoumaru!"

The door to the room popped open and Kagome and her mother started carrying in tea things. "Here we are. Sorry it took so long. You have such a selection of tea. So hard to choose."

Sesshoumaru reared back slightly as a laden tray was plunked on the desk blotter. Inuyasha surreptitiously wiped at the water dripping down his face only to find himself nose to nose with Kagome.

She frowned, eyes going beyond him. "Planning on borrowing some books?" She said in an undertone. "The walls are thick here but not all that thick. We could hear you all the way to the kitchen." Her eyes caught on something and she made a small sound. "Isn't that the same horse from your.." She trailed off as what her mother was saying impinged on her consciousness.

"My, Sesshoumaru-Sama, so much money. And now I've spilled tea on it. You really shouldn't leave it lying around like that."

"It is not mine."

"Inuyasha's, then. Didn't I ask you to put all this cash in a safe place?" Higurashi-Sama shook her head at Inuyasha and indicated the small flood of banknotes scattered across the desk.

Inuyasha's face was turning red. "The pieces of money paper are Sesshoumaru's. Kagome, you can take my horse back."

Kagome wasn't going for any of it. "Why," she said in a dangerous tone, "should 'I' touch anything? It seems to me that you started selling things from your house and your brother caught you out. It's a pity, I liked the horse. But I like honesty more."

Sesshoumaru gave a soft snort. "If you like it you may have it, human girl."

"Damn it!" Shouted Inuyasha.

Higurashi-San sighed and said. "Please don't make this more difficult, Sesshoumaru-Sama. I was hoping you two boys could settle your differences in a better manner. That is why I agreed to come after all."

"Told you she went willingly, Kagome. Didn't I?"

"Inuyasha…"

Higurashi-San had finished stacking the, now tea stained, banknotes into a tidy pile at one end of the desk and was busy pouring out tea. "Let me see, the white porcelain for you, Sesshoumaru-Sama. And the earthen-glazed for you, Inuyasha. Milk and sugar also, very untraditional. Kagome-Chan shall have this blue lacquer-ware cup. Look inside, Kagome, it is gilded. And I, shall have this nice English china teacup and saucer. The roses are so pretty, and so realistic. I like Western art, don't you, Sesshoumaru-Sama?"

Under her gentle flood of words and efficient service the room was transformed. Sesshoumaru accepted his cup silently and even ventured a sip. Inuyasha took his and retreated to a corner to nurse its warmth in his hand. Kagome took a sip but then stood, gently rotating the wooden cup in her hand and staring into it, watching the tea leaves in the bottom shifting this way and that, spelling out brief fortunes.

"Inuyasha, dear, did you retrieve the staff of heads? Where is the little green man Jaken?"

"Huh?" Inuyasha's ears flicked revealingly, he had nearly been dozing in the corner with his unmentionable brother in the room. He straightened up quickly. "Oh, uh, we have the staff. We will turn it over when you and Souta are home, Higurashi-Sama."

"That is nice, but where is Jaken?" Mama poured herself some more tea and seated herself on the edge of the desk.

"Umm, it's a long story Mama." Kagome interjected quietly. "But he's in hell. I think."

Oo. -0- .oO

The old motorcycle belched and roared through the empty Tokyo streets. There were manned roadblocks set up by the Home Guard but Jukuryo seemed to know every turn and back alley available to avoid them. The most they got was on overzealous crosswalk monitor, rigged out in his patrol belt and insistently waving his orange cone-light at them.

Jukuryo turned his head and let his eyes flame behind his aviator goggles with an evil cackle. The elderly crossing guard staggered back with a choked scream and collided with a lamp post which he hung onto for dear life.

His wife, alerted by the racket, marched out of their house and found him there. She did not like him guarding the street like this anyway and called him an old fool as she half-assisted half-dragged him inside his apartment building. But he knew what he had seen: An ancient youkai driving an antique motorcycle with a sidecar bearing an old shrine priest holding something evil clutched to his breast.

He was never able to convince anyone of this. Humans with true sight like that are few and far between. Part of the reason he had married his wife was her total lack of imagination. So she insulted his intelligence and fed him tea and toast until he was able to act like a 'sensible' man again.

Jukuryo gunned the motorcycle and maneuvered himself and his passenger down the winding street. They had to go slow because someone, or something had been down it vandalizing bicycles culminating in a collapsed brick wall and bent bicycle wreckage. Jukuryo had hit a particularly bad patch and had the bike running at the speed of a slow walk as he picked his way through when Jijii-Chan called for him to stop.

There was a lone figure in the darkness apparently fishing through the mess with impatient movements. Jijii-Chan's eyes had widened as he recognized Houjou, the clueless boy from Kagome's school.

Now, Houjou was a solid favorite with Jijii-Chan. Although not for any reason that Houjou would've liked. Jijii-Chan had simply found him too irresistible a mark and had enjoyed an unprecedented flow of largess in the form of healthy gifts. Those he did not use he had passed out to his friends which accounted for the ever-expanding and changing lists of ills which Kagome had supposedly suffered. So, seeing him out alone on these streets where there really were monsters wandering was too much for his protective instincts. It was the purest of sympathetic intentions that caused him to call out to the boy and gesture him over to the motorcycle.

"Houjou-Kun! Come here. You must be crazy to be out on foot on a night like this. Whatever happened to that fancy bike of yours?"

"Higurashi-San? What are you doing out on a night like this? The streets are dangerous." Houjou looked like he had been pulled backwards though a hedge, complete with twigs in his hair. He brushed self-consciously at it and straightened his shirt. "I should know, my bike was stolen earlier by a pack of lizard-birds and I was assaulted again just a few minutes before I arrived here by some fuzzy guy with blue hair. He let he just gibbered at me and let me go though."

"Pulled you through a hedge, huh?" Asked Jijii-Chan with a twinkle.

"How did you know?"

Jijii-Chan shrugged nonchalantly as he shifted his bundle of hat and staff. "We shrine priests keep to rigorous training in observation." He reached forward to draw a twig of boxwood out of Houjou's hair. "Never mind that now, what are you doing outside? There's a curfew on you know."

"I, uh, was trying to get to a certain address, It's very important."

Jukuryo revved the motor of the bike for an instant before leaning across the side car to speak to Houjou himself. "Well, where to boy? We have important business of our own but we could drop you off somewhere along if you're going our way."

Houjou bowed with alacrity. "Please, if you can sir! If it's not too much trouble. I'm going to the Ichii Building in Roppongi hills. I was hoping to find a bike I could borrow that was still intact."

The two old friends turned to stare at each other in amazement. The end of the staff that was sticking up out of Jijii-Chan's baggy hat quivered. Clapping a hand to it, Jijii-Chan readdressed himself to Houjou. "Well, now, inscrutable and awesome are the winds of fate which blow us to a corresponding direction."

"Sir?"

"He means that we're heading in the same direction." Stated Jukuryo. "Hop on, I see some shadows in that alley that have eyes."

With an alarmed glance behind him, Houjou settled his small backpack with its precious burden of anti-daemon charms and climbed onto the back of the motorcycle to grip its frame tightly as they took off with a roar and a cough down the littered street.

::::O:::: 

Reviews would be so nice….


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

By the time the antique motor cycle ran the second red light Houjou was sorry he'd ever accepted the offer of a lift. Only the fact that they were moving too fast for him to easily get his left foot up from where it was tucked onto a peg between the bike and the body of the side car kept him from bailing off the back of the bike at the next turn. In fact, he rather thought the shoe was stuck and that he was going to be pinned in the wreckage of the inevitable crash.

Jukuryo slowed the bike momentarily and beeped the horn at a shambling mound of plants in a zebra crossing before accelerating past it. Houjou got a dizzying impression of an irate face masked in leaves as they whisked by and looked behind to see the figure shaking a leafy fist after them just like any other offended pedestrian.

Higurashi-Jijii was no help. Laughing as they careened through the empty streets of the capitol he reached down into the body of the side car to produce an open bottle of saké and proceeded to share it with the bike's driver. He even tried to offer it to Houjou once only to draw a shocked refusal.

Jijii-Chan blinked owlishly at him and settled the head of the up-ended staff more firmly between his knees. "You should loosen up, boy." He shouted over the roar of the engine. "Go with the flow of life. See into your nature and become Buddha!"

"But you're a Shinto shrine priest, not a Buddhist monk!"

"See what I mean?" Jijii-Chan shook his head sorrowfully. "You really need to loosen up."

Houjou hunched his shoulders and clutched at Jukuryo's belt as they took a sweeping turn onto the street leading to Roppangi Hills. The glittering bulk of Building C rose up before them and Jukuryo headed the bike straight for the electronic sliding doors at the front entrance. Houjou goggled as the doors obediently slid open and the bike roared, sidecar and all, into the granite-walled lobby and drew up in front of the reception desk.

A number of business-suited staffers came from behind the counter frantically waving their hands in shooing motions while one harried-looking individual shouted into a phone and persistently palmed a panic button under the desk. As the engine of the bike backfired its way into silence their voices could be heard. "No, please sir! It is absolutely not permitted to park a vehicle in here!"

Jukuryo ignored them to dismount the motorcycle and stride over to the desk, black leathers creaking. The man behind the desk shouting into the phone had a badge that declared him 'Night Manager' on his chest. Jukuryo said, "Excuse me," and took the phone from him. He placed the receiver against his own ear and spoke into it: "Is this security?" He listened for a moment. "The operator? Security is busy? That's fine, not to worry. Connect me with unit 1401 please. Yes, Nishigawa-Sama's apartment, that's right. I'll hold…" Jukuryo shoved up his goggles and leaned against the counter while he waited. "Nice voice that girl. Should go into broadcasting." He said conversationally to Jijii-Chan as he came up to the desk with the blindfolded staff and the bottle of saké clutched to his chest. The noise in the background was continuing and Jukuryo lifted his hand for silence as he spoke into the receiver. Astoundingly, he got it.

"Ah, Nishigawa-Sama, Jukuryo-Ada here. I have the staff you requested but the toad youkai….Ah, yes. They have arrived then." There was an extended pause as Jukuryo listened intently to the phone with all eyes upon him except for Houjou's. Houjou was quietly trying to abstract his left shoe from where he had been forced to leave it when he'd dismounted, wedged between the frame of the bike and the body of the side car.

Abruptly, Jukuryo began speaking again. "It seemed best to move it here so we have some additional security measures in place. Although, really, the security staff here seems a bit inadequate."

The night manager had been listening to the whole exchange with bulging eyes and heaving chest looking very much as if he would explode like a puffer fish at any moment. He suddenly reached his moment in response to Jukuryo's comments and with an ear-piercing samurai yell lunged across the intervening counter and grabbed the phone out of Jukuryo's hand.

"Honored sir!!" He bawled into the phone. "These gangster types have invaded the downstairs lobby causing much damage and disruption!" He voice slowed as he said impressively, "They have driven a motorized vehicle into the lobby, sir."

Jijii-Chan was looking about him with interest. "Disruption?" Yes. "Damage?" He had yet to see any. His attention was drawn back as the manager suddenly emitted a frantic bleat. Jukuryo had thrust the claws of his right index finger and thumb up the night manger's nostrils and given a vicious pinch. The manager stood at attention, with his nose upturned and tears starting from his eyes as Jukuryo gently took the phone back.

"As I was saying, shall we meet?" He nodded to something that was said on the other end of the line and placed the phone back on its rest, releasing the manager who promptly sat on the floor behind the counter to nurse his abused nose. Jukuryo thoughtfully pulled out a packet of tissues and dropped it in the manager's lap after abstracting a couple for his own use and turned with a satisfied smile. "Staff still secure Higurashi?"

"Oh, yes." Jijii-Chan held up his bundle and nodded. "What do we do with young Houjou-Kun here?" He asked, thrusting a thumb at the boy who was standing next to the motorcycle holding his shoe.

Jukuryo shrugged and stopped in surprise as a wild haired Houjou hobbled over to them on one shod foot staring at Jijii-Chan.

"Higurashi-Jijii." He stammered. "What staff is your friend talking about?" His eyes held a half-frightened, half-feverish glint.

Jijii-Chan exchanged glances with Jukuryo, shrugged, and pulled the staff out of the concealing cover of his hat. "Oops." He said as the blindfold slipped off.

Ooo::::0::::ooO

Sesshoumaru had taken the call at his study desk before an interested audience. Three pairs of eyes had never wavered from him as he gave an unemotional account of Jaken's last reported location and bugged as Sesshoumaru winced, pulling the receiver away from his ear with the night manager's voice clearly heard to be heard shouting from the other end before cutting off with a sound that resembled someone's throat being slit in a gore fest horror flick.

With a sigh, Sesshoumaru replaced the receiver to his ear and said briefly, "Inuyasha and I will meet you the lobby in two minutes. Please do not do anything careless in that time." He hung up the phone and stood up from the desk. "It looks as though we are to have visitors. Jukuryo is here with the Staff of Heads."

"The Staff of Heads?" Inuyasha and Kagome chorused drawing a raised eyebrow from Sesshoumaru. "But that's sealed back at the shrine." Kagome finished looking quite pink in the face.

"It is now downstairs. Coming, Inuyasha?"

With an undecided growl Inuyasha shifted to human ears and set off for the door with Sesshoumaru following. They cut through the spacious living cum dining room and Sesshoumaru took the lead as they went through the double doors into the front hallway and up the couple of steps to the foyer. The elevators were no great distance away down the building's interior corridor and Sesshoumaru glanced at Inuyasha curiously as they waited for the car.

Inuyasha was fidgeting and looking about himself nervously, wondering why they were waiting in front of closed doors. With an effort, he restrained himself and stood still. He could tell that machinery was moving something nearby but had no clue what it was. Sesshoumaru continued to stand, facing the closed doors until they opened and then entered with a quick step. Inuyasha hurriedly followed suite only to find himself in a tiny closed room alone with his brother. With muted dings the numbers above the door began to change at a slow but steady rate.

"Your blood." Sesshoumaru said suddenly.

"Eh?"

"Your blood. You changed your ears and your blood smell changed. Was that your wish upon the Shikon-no-Tama?"

"Yes." A few more numbers went by in silence with both brothers looking stiffly frontward.

"Wanna see?"

Sesshoumaru turned his head slowly and gazed at his brother through lambent golden eyes. Taking silence as assent, Inuyasha flowed rapidly through his transformations, flexing down to human straight up to full youkai; vermilion stripes, three inch claws and all. Which, of course, was when the elevator stopped at the lobby and the doors slid open revealing a scene of absolute chaos.

On the bright side, no one had any attention to spare for a startled inu-hanyou hurriedly reshuffling his appearance to that of a white haired human youth. And security had finally arrived, accounting for some of the shouting and at least one cloud of pepper spray hanging in midair in a corner and seriously inconveniencing a pair of female night clerks who had taken refuge there.

Other than that mayhem seemed to be the order of the day. Jukuryo could be seen moving briskly about and preventing anyone in security from successfully tasering Jijii-Chan all the while shouting advice to that beleaguered elder. Jijii-Chan for his part seemed to be trying to detach the business end of the staff of heads from the shoulder of a squealing Houjou. The five man security detail was milling about giving vent to threatening shouts and dodging Jukuryo's claws when one of them slipped on what appeared to be a smashed bottle of some sort and went down in a tangle with two of his companions.

Sesshoumaru took in the situation in an instant and, never one to hesitate, swept forward to detach Houjou from his staff. As Sesshoumaru reached the struggling knot Inuyasha caught sight of a suspiciously familiar glow coming from Houjou's backpack and gave a warning shout while starting forward himself. Sesshoumaru heard him and turned slightly to look back when his hand contacted the backpack and the daemon wards in it went of with a flash of light and a percussive crack.

Inuyasha found himself thrown backward by the impact of a solid body and bounced hard off of the closed doors of the elevator some six feet behind where he had just been. The air was filled with a rustling sound for a couple of moments followed by silence. Slowly a chorus of groans and splashes could be heard. He became aware of a warm solid bulk pinning him down by his upper chest and head. A single whiff told him who it was and he levered an arm to push against Sesshoumaru's shoulder in an attempt to gently shift his brother's inert weight.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru stirred and jerked back, eyes meeting Inuyasha's in a feral stare. With a scramble they were both up and yards apart as they surveyed the scene.

Jukuryo was picking himself up out of an artificial waterfall that occupied the far corner of the lobby and looking oddly like some sort of black crane with his skinny leather clad legs bending sharply at the knee and drawing up nearly to his chest as he stepped over the fountain's curb. He bent down briefly and hauled what appeared to be a security guard up by his collar and draped his head and arms over the lip of the fountain to drip on the floor.

Inuyasha walked across what must have been a blizzard of white paper scraps towards the pile of bodies by Jukuryo's motorcycle briefly noting a star-shaped scorch mark etched in the floor. The bodies were shifting and an old man's querulous voice could be heard; "Will you get off me, you big ox!"

With a muttered "Keh." Inuyasha grabbed Houjou by the back of his belt an heaved to drop him face down on the floor as he extended his free hand to Higurashi-Jijii. The old man's hair was standing up in wisps an his ceremonial regalia was sadly rumpled but he was otherwise unharmed.

'What was the saying about drunks and falls?' he wondered as the sharp smell of saké assaulted his nose. He set Jijii-Chan upright on his feet as the three security guards who had cushioned Jijii-Chan's fall got themselves shakily up. A movement to his right caught his attention and he saw Sesshoumaru bent down picking something up out of a puddle on the floor and shaking bits of what appeared to be glass off of it.

It was the Staff of Heads resting quietly in Sesshoumaru's hand as if it were merely some highly-decorated baton. Inuyasha watched as his bother turned it back and forth inspecting it and giving it the occasional sniff. He frowned for an instant, clutching the stem and giving the staff a sharp look but then lowered it and looked about the lobby.

Inuyasha could catch the flow of youki. The staff was not as quiet as it seemed.

The lobby staff were slowly coming out of their places of concealment and the security guards were trying to pull themselves together and administer first aid to the guard who had been knocked into the fountain and the two unfortunates who had been pepper sprayed. Sesshoumaru cleared his throat and spoke.

"No-one is to leave. I will be calling for backup and a medic unit. No one else is to be permitted in but them. I will also be awakening my secretary and all matters may be referred to her." He stopped, clearly finished, and everyone bowed, even the girls trying to rinse pepper spray out of their eyes.

Jijii-Chan reflexively started to bow too but caught Inuyasha's scowl and turned it into a fumble at his robes. Sesshoumaru turned and headed back to the elevators stepping impassively over the remains of pots and plants that had decorated the lobby and the flood of scattered paper. Jukuryo joined him and jerked his head for Inuyasha and Jijii-Chan to follow.

Inuyasha started to after them but was held back by an insistent tug at his elbow from Jijii-Chan. He turned to see the old gnome of a man pointing at the prone form of Houjou resting in its solitary glory in the center of the wrecked lobby.

"We can't just leave him here, he's out like a light."

"They can take care of him." Inuyasha hissed back.

Higurashi-Jijii's eyes widened in shock. "Leave the boy to strangers? Kagome would be very distressed."

Sesshoumaru's voice sounded behind them. "The elevator is here."

With a quick bow Jijii-Chan called out "A moment." And turned back to glare at Inuyasha with his hands tucked in the capacious sleeves of his robes. "Well?"

With muttered complaints of stupid people wanting stupid things done and why was he always the one to get to cart around insensible idiots Inuyasha scooped Houjou up onto his shoulder and stomped over to the elevators where the other two were waiting. He took no great care of how he got into the cab and Jijii-Chan scolded again when he leaned part of Houjou's weight against the side of the elevator.

"I'm carrying him aren't I?" He asked sullenly but straightened up from the wall.

Kagome and Higurashi-San greeted their arrival with anxious demands for explanations which immediately changed into demands for a spare room in which Houjou could be placed. Sesshoumaru silently opened the door that led to the private living quarters of the apartment and swept open the door to one of the spare bedrooms before heading down the short hallway that led to the side door of his study where he spent the next fifteen minutes on the phone.

Inuyasha plopped the boy onto the bed and took a good sniff. The boy had been out so long that even he was starting to feel concerned but he could smell no odor of imbalance and stepped back. Kagome took this as a good sign and proceeded to surprise her mother very much by sitting down on the side of the bed and shaking Houjou's face by a pinch of cheek skin and shouting loudly in his ear. She briskly demanded an ice cold face cloth which she clapped to the back of his head and, reaching deeply into the side pocket of her cargo pants, produced an ammonia inhalant which she snapped and thrust under his nose.

Inuyasha clapped a hand over his own nose and backed, cursing out of the room to head back to the living room.

"Sorry." Kagome shouted after him distractedly as Houjou batted at her and sat up with a jerk.

He stared around him for a moment, but finding himself in a well-appointed bedroom with no one in sight but Kagome and her mother let himself be eased back to the pillows by the two clucking women. "Where am I?" He breathed, pressing the back of his hand to his forehead.

"You are at my bother-in-law's home. In his spare bedroom. How do you feel?"

"Brother-in-law. Truly, Kagome?"

The girl flushed and stood up quickly from the bed. "I think you'll do with a little rest. We'll just be down the hall, Houjou-Kun. Coming, Mamma?"

Higurashi-San looked undecided for a moment but followed her daughter with an apologetic smile at the nonplussed boy on the bed. "I'll be back to check on you."

"Higurashi-San," he called softly after her "is it true?" She turned and gave a smiling little bow before stepping out of the room drawing the door partway closed after her.

000::OOO::ooo

Good thing that apartment is so big. Otherwise it'd be getting crowded. It actually is off of a floor plan to an apartment in that area of Tokyo. Yours for a mere $3,ooo.oo a month. Although I don't think Sesshoumaru is renting.

Reviews would be so nice…


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Sesshoumaru hung up the phone after speaking to his secretary and stared at the staff lying on the desk blotter before him. The item had, now that he considered the whole thing, caused him an inordinate amount of trouble. Maybe it was best to wash his hands of it and just seal the thing away. 'One does end up with so much expensive baggage that one doesn't really want.' He mused as he gently rotated the staff between his fingers from the woman's face to the man's face and back again.

His thoughts were interrupted by the hurried footsteps of his brother who bursts in through the side door and closed it quickly after him. An acrid stench floated on the air disturbed by the wake of his passage. Inuyasha was sneezing and Sesshoumaru's own eyes were beginning to sting as he said in the gentlest tone of voice possible: "To what do I owe this fearsome stench?"

Inuyasha merely rolled watering eyes at him as he stomped past to fling the balcony door open and make good his escape out into the night. Sesshoumaru followed at a more dignified but still swift pace and closed the door behind him. The night air, while strange smelling was a distinct improvement. The far edge of the balcony drew them and Inuyasha took a seat on the railing with one leg tucked under the other while Sesshoumaru took a space some yards away against the corner pillar of the balcony, they both looked down into the main street where they could glimpse the entrance to the building from their vantage point.

A few dozen yards away one of the side doors to the living room opened and closed as Jukuryo put in an appearance, holding his nose and knocking into the bronze outdoor fireplace with a clang as he made his way through the sitting area with its maze of tables, chairs and potted plants.

"Whew, whatever that girl was using is enough to wake the dead." Jukuryo settled himself on the railing between the two brothers, not even bothering to sit but rather stepping up to balance there in a crouched position with his hands in his pockets. He looked quite ready to spring off at any moment to catch a ride on a stray breeze. He turned his head slightly and studied the staff that Sesshoumaru held loosely between his fingers. "Any idea what you're going to do with that thing?"

Sesshoumaru glanced down as if surprised to find he was holding anything at all. "This?" He maintained his negligent pose but lifted the staff in his hand so that the old man's mask pointed down the street where two emergency vehicles and a small private ambulance were pulling up to the curb. Immediately, the mouth of the mask dropped open to reveal a glowing, smoky interior.

The other two sat very still, eyes watchful in expressionless faces.

The mask emitted a slight belch of smoke and Sesshoumaru shrugged, dropping his hand and closing his eyes without looking at them, having had his little joke. "This thing has ever been demanding and difficult to control. I am minded not to use it again."

"After you get Jaken and that saké girl back. Then you can stop using it." Inuyasha broke in, his voice sounding harsh after his bother's smooth tones.

Sesshoumaru's mouth tightened. "And why would I want to get them back?"

Inuyasha's arms folded and his eyes caught glittering reflections of the lights as he turned to answer hotly back but it was Jukuryo who spoke first. "Enough of this game, Sesshoumaru. Did you or did you not order the deaths of both humans and youkai in and around the environs of Tokyo in the past several months?"

Sesshoumaru sat up ramrod straight and replied with a snap. "The last deaths I ordered were those of the bandit Yoshimorou and that rabble that he called an army for insolence in refusing me passage at the Arakawa ford on my way to what is now Tokyo Wan. That was over five hundred years in the past by your accounting of things, Jukuryo. True, the staff, in Jaken's hand, was the agent but it was all justified and above board."

"And how long ago was that by your accounting of things Sesshoumaru?" Jukuryo's head twisted slightly to one side as he sidled just a little closer to Sesshoumaru, still crouched and balancing deftly on the balls of his feet on the balcony rail. "How long since you allowed that staff to be fed?"

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened and his gaze flickered for an instant to the staff he held in his hand. The woman's face was topmost, eyes modestly lowered, lips gently smiling. "I took up residence in this era twenty-eight years ago. Some two years after the events involving Naraku and the Shikon-no-Tama." Inuyasha growled under his breath and Sesshoumaru moved slightly as if in response. "I have not given any orders for it to be fed in this time."

"But it remained in the possession of your minion? The toad daemon Jaken?" Jukuryo persisted. "Unfed?"

Sesshoumaru hesitated and then frowned. "Certainly it did. It has never left his possession since I placed it under his charge until three nights ago when he was apprehended in Yomiyuri Land under an accusation of molesting a female and property damage. There is a report on my desk alleging various other things but I have not read it…I have been otherwise occupied of late." His voice sounded uncharacteristically unsure even to him.

"I think I might have some guesses as to what's in that report, Sesshoumaru-Sama." Jukuryo remarked dryly. "And pretending that there is no staff isn't going to fix the problem we have at hand."

There was a little space of silence and sounds of the trucks being unloaded floated to them from the street on a persistent updraft. Then Inuyasha spoke softly as if he were reminiscing but his eyes were on the scene below where an altercation was breaking out. "Jaken said Sesshoumaru wouldn't listen to him anymore when I first laid my hands on him."

Jukuryo nodded his head. He had been present. Sesshoumaru just sat still.

Inuyasha continued speaking, staring thoughtfully down into the street all the while. "He seemed to fear the staff but he made every effort to regain control of it while I was with him and got pulled into that other world because of it." The argument down on the street was progressing nicely and Inuyasha's rapt attention drew the eyes of the other two.

All three youkai watched in interest as one of the pair of men with blue rubber gloves on burst into a perfect frenzy of shouting and threw a bag of liquid he was holding down onto the pavement. As they all watched, he proceeded to jump on it, squirting what smelled like salt water all over the place as the others continued to shout back at him.

Predictably, the phone started to ring in Sesshoumaru's study moments later. They could hear Higurashi-San answering it.

Sesshoumaru's head jerked up suddenly and, quicker than the other two could take in, he swept the head of the staff up and crisped a large black something out of the air as it glided on silent wings from the roof of the building opposite. Without a cry the glider crumpled up in the blast of fire and plummeted down to the street to land with a wetly smacking thud within yards of the group of arguing men fourteen stories below.

Jukuryo remained perched, hands in pockets, watching as the men suddenly abandoned their argument and piled through the front doors of the building, dragging the equipment and the gurney behind them. Both of the inu-brothers were now prowling the perimeter of the balcony and gazing up at the surrounding roofs. They moved in swift silence, crossing paths with faint checks at each other.

"It was alone," announced Jukuryo. "If another was with it, it would've dropped by now."

With a final sniff at a vagrant updraft Inuyasha turned around. "Protecting humans, Sesshoumaru?"

"I pay their life insurance, Bastard." Sesshoumaru took a last stare up and tossed an impeding chair over the side of the balcony. "Very well. We will reverse the process and retrieve Jaken and you two can question his motives all you want. After that I will seal the staff and that will be the end of it."

"Saké Girl too." Inuyasha said stubbornly.

Sesshoumaru paused for an instant before he flung a second chair over the side of the balcony after the first. "Please don't tell me you are taking on a secondary wife Inuyasha. A human lover and sexually incontinent?" A handsome potted palm shared the same fate as the chairs. "What next? Pet dogs?"

"You take that back!" Inuyasha sent the bronze fire bowl in a whizzing spin that just barely missed Sesshoumaru's head as it sailed off into the night.

Suddenly, a gust of wind slammed into the balcony tumbling the remaining furniture against the windows and clearing most of the balcony floor. "Stop that! Both of you!"

The brothers both turned to look into the wind, hair whipped into wild silver streamers about their heads. There stood Jukuryo, straddle legged on the balcony railing, with eyes like twin coals and the end of a tattered white scarf blowing from the neck of his old black leathers. Both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru put up hands involuntarily to shield their faces from flying debris and backed up a step away from each other.

Abruptly, the wind dropped.

"Much better." Jukuryo spoke into the ensuing silence. "Inuyasha's goal in securing the Sak…I mean, Yasuku Ryosei-San's release is much the same as my own, Nishigawa-Sama. She was part of what caused this problem and owes some answers. Surely, you do not wish to imply something idle." He looked at the two, Inuyasha with his hair wild and his face grim, Sesshoumaru clinging with determination to his impassivity. Two sides to the same coin and closer in nature than most would guess. "Nevertheless, you said you would reverse the effects of the staff, Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru dropped his eyes the barest fraction. "So I did, Jukuryo-Sama."

Inuyasha blinked a bit at the honorific but remained silent. He could see Kagome through the plate glass windows, standing in the darkened living room, her arm about Souta. Jijii-Chan was peering from what he obviously considered a safe vantage point beyond her shoulder. Higurashi-San was…his ears flickered betraying his shifting interest. Higurashi-San was still on the phone talking soothingly to someone. Inuyasha hoped everyone would stay put and out of harm's way.

OOO:::0:::OOO

Kagome stood with her frightened brother in the circle of her arm as the three youkai out on the balcony continued to talk. She had just started to doze off when a flare of light had caused her to look over the back of the couch where she had been comfortably using Souta's unresisting haunches as a pillow while she watched something or other on NHK.

The fact that they gotten down to arguing came as no big surprise but Sesshoumaru's subsequent decision to throw everything on the balcony down to the street was pretty odd. She had gasped and jumped when Inuyasha threw the fire bowl at his brother's head and had hurriedly started to climb over the back of the couch and get out there to put a damper on the situation when Jukuryo had put a stop the argument his way.

The ensuing crashes and whistling wind had woken Souta up out of a sound sleep convinced that something terrible like an earthquake had occurred and even Jijii-Chan had sat up with a snort and struggled out of the leather lounge chair he had been "resting his eyes in". The Higurashis stared as the group of daemons separated to take up widely-spaced positions on the cleared balcony.

Sesshoumaru stood in the center, holding the staff and spoke briefly to the other two. Kagome could sense the powerful shifts in their ki as Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga and faced outwards while Jukuryo turned to face inwards towards the windows and held his hands in a ritualistic position. Within moments the faint flicker of a barrier caught at Kagome's eye and the view through the windows became refracted much like the view through a fish tank. Sesshoumaru dropped to one knee and raised the staff above his head and then brought it down to tap the butt end of it smartly on the pavement he was kneeling on. Like rapidly spreading cracks on a sheet of ice runnels of greenish light spread out in a web and bathed everything in an eerie glow.

Houjou wandered into the living room in a search for the kitchen and a glass of water. "Excuse me, where's…" The flickering glow outside the window caught his eye and he interrupted himself. "Hey isn't that..." He broke off as the black hole of a vortex opened above Sesshoumaru's head and all manner of things began appearing over the side of the balcony.

Inuyasha leaped into action. Not so much to destroy the bizarre creatures that hopped, flew and slithered towards him as to enforce order and slow their rate of approach. Sesshoumaru maintained his position with his head down as, in twos and threes, the creatures tumbled willy-nilly towards him and were swept up into the blackness to vanish. The watchers could hear a faint shout from the hanyou as a particularly large and persistent creature grabbed on the railing of the balcony and attempted to crawl back over and escape. A quick slap with the flat of Tessaiga's blade broke its grip and it was sent tumbling to be sucked up with the others.

A sudden thump next to her made Kagome jump nearly out of her skin as Houjou's unresisting body suddenly plastered itself to the window with his arms and legs spread out like a starfish. "Grelp!" he shouted as best he could with his face pressed firmly against the glass.

Kagome clapped an hand to her mouth in dismay. "Of course!" she exclaimed. "Houjou, you must resist it, you've traveled through the staff's portal too!"

Houjou rolled a desperate eye at her and gurgled. She shook her head at him and sighed, "I'm very sorry about this really." and raised her hands to create a tiny blue spark of light between her palms. She frowned in concentration while her family made shocked comments and sent the charge of power to bounce lightly off the back of the trapped boy's head. Houjou gave a jerk and dropped to the floor like a rock.

"Kagome," her mother's reproving voice sounded behind her, "that wasn't very polite."

Kagome flapped her hands helplessly, "Sorry, it was all I could think of to break the connection in a hurry."

"Wow, Kagome, do you think I could learn to do that?" Souta's eyes were shiny with admiration. "Think of what I could do with it at school."

"Uh, I don't think Mama would like that."

As Higurashi-San gently placed a pillow from the sofa under Houjou's head they could see that the flow of creatures drawn to the vortex was finally slowing. With a despairing flutter a last winged thing was sucked up and all was still. The trio on the balcony didn't move as the blackness contracted to the size of a baseball and turned blue. With a whistling sound it suddenly expanded and popped as two bodies tumbled to the ground in front of Sesshoumaru.

Jukuryo looked over his shoulder and nodded as he dropped his hands and Inuyasha allowed Tetsusaiga to revert to a battered old katana and sheathed it. They walked over to look with interest at the pair that they had rescued who were slowly starting to stir and groan. Sesshoumaru got up from where he had been kneeling and walked silently away to stand staring out at the sky. The first pallor of false dawn was beginning to show. He glanced down at the wreckage in the street left by the things he had tossed off of the balcony and decided it was time to contact his secretary and get the cleaning crews busy. He headed back to his study to get on the phone.

Kagome opened the door and stuck her head out. "Aren't you going to help them Inuyasha? We can't just leave them lying there and I need to get Houjou up off the floor too. He's unconscious."

Inuyasha rested his hands on his hips and studied her for a long moment. "Why is Houjou unconscious on the floor again?" he asked, bringing a bright blush to the girl's cheeks.

"It, ah, seemed the best thing to do at the time."

Inuyasha could only nod in approval at this sign of sound reasoning from his mate and stooped to heave an unresisting Ryosei over his shoulder. If Kagome was finally beginning to see the light about the usefulness of a conscious Houjou he for one was not about to complain.

:::OOOO::::

Reviews would be so nice…


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The housekeepers let themselves into the apartment using the pass key. The place was quiet but they had no reason to believe that their employer had left the building that day so they separated do their work In silence. One went towards the kitchen and one down the front hall to the utility closet where she stopped in surprise.

There was a large, hand-addressed envelope taped to the front of the closet. She took it down and read the contents, her face registering a growing shock. Never, in the fifteen years she had been employed by Sesshoumaru had there been any break in the household's routine.

'Please refrain from using the vacuum today.' The note said. 'The bathrooms will require extra towels and toothbrushes for nine. As most of the rooms of the apartment have sleeping guests trash removal and a light dusting will be all that is required. Thank You.' There was another packet that contained yen notes tucked into the envelope.

She took the note and headed for the kitchen to see what her co-worker made of it. She found her companion standing in the center of a kitchen piled high with used dishes and tea cups holding a note similar in appearance to the one she had. "He wants breakfast for ten. He scarcely keeps enough food around for one." Her workmate whispered. "What do we do?"

"Use this, apparently." Reaching down into the envelope in her co-worker's hands, she drew up another thick wad of yen notes. Plenty to buy what was required.

So it was that, not very long later, the two women eased through the double doors of the living room on their way to set up warmers for a buffet breakfast on the large, Japanese-style, dining table. Morning light slanted across the gleaming teak of the table where it stood on its low legs on a raised platform. In contrast, all of the drapes were tightly drawn in the rest of the room, casting it into a shadowy half-light. The low hum of the TV could be discerned in the background and one of the women placed her steam tray on the table and padded in that direction to turn it off.

She nearly stepped on a boy sleeping on the floor. He was flat on his back with his head on a sofa cushion and an alpaca throw over him. She frowned as she saw that some wiseacre had tucked a lily from the floral arrangement in the front hall into his hands so that he looked like some sort of carelessly bestowed corpse.

Putting her hand on the back of the leather-covered lounge chair she tiptoed awkwardly over the sleeping youth only to discover that the lounge chair had an occupant in the shape of an elderly shrine priest in full temple regalia. His wispy hair stuck up all over his head and he gripped the remote control in one hand. She would have to use the controls on the front of the set.

She carefully circled around him and headed for the dimly glowing set. It was showing anime at this hour, the shifting colors pulsating with some sort of combat.

"Leave it."

The low voice startled her and she spun to see a young man sitting on the floor with his back to the couch. A sheathed katana was cradled against his shoulder and the whiteness of his hair and the gold of his eyes made her think, for one disoriented instant, that it was her employer. But no, the face was more youthful and the shaggy hair was nothing like Sesshoumaru-Sama's.

The woman bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry; I didn't see you. Breakfast is arriving in a moment and will be kept warm on the table. Please feel free to eat whenever you are ready."

The young man's glance flickered back to the TV screen where a good deal of muted but still shrill screaming was going on accompanied by dramatic music stabs. She did not turn to look at the TV as she had a couple of grandsons of her own and had a fair idea of which program it was.

"Rice balls, soup and pickles? No thanks." He shrugged his indifference.

"Ahh, no. So sorry, but because of the earliness of the hour and the lack of supplies we had to stop at Wacdonald's and, if I may say so myself, just about bought them out."

It was then that the front door of the apartment opened and the food arrived piping hot and wrapped in steaming bags.

'Ah,' thought the young man, 'American junk food.' His stomach growled at the warm, chickeny, smell causing him to blush in response to the woman's knowing smile.

:::O:::

When the maids were gone, Inuyasha stretched elaborately, popping his shoulders backwards and showing a good deal of fang when he yawned. His ears flickered back into being, unfolding like twin fans atop of his head and poking up through his hair. He glanced over his shoulder at a long, blanket-wrapped bundle on the couch behind him.

"Kagome, you hungry? I know you're awake." He dropped a hand backward to run a knuckle against the nearest available piece of her, probably a forearm.

The bundle shifted and a pair of bright eyes and flushed cheeks put in an appearance from under a corner of the blanket.

"No, I am not awake, but you are. Bring me some tea please." Kagome said and checked the other end of the horseshoe-shaped couch where Souta was dead to the world, before snuggling in again to the couch's soft cushions. Who would've thought that Sesshoumaru favored comfy furniture? She had always pegged him as a tatami mat and futon kind of guy.

She shifted again and reconsidered dropping back off in favor of the nice bathrooms. She rolled off of the couch, bringing the blanket with her and considered how insulting it would be if she did not indulge in a hot, greasy, breakfast and then a an even hotter soak in one of the simply enormous tubs that the apartment afforded.

"Oy," Inuyasha spoke from where he was at the table, confusedly trying to figure out why the tea was sealed up in plastic cylinders and nosing under the covers of the chafing dishes. "I thought you said you were still asleep."

"The necessary, Inuyasha." Kagome said in a tired voice.

They had traveled together for over two years and he still behaved as though normal bodily functions didn't exist until he allowed time for them. At one point he had gotten so bad that Sango and Kagome had banded together to give blatantly explicit descriptions of just what it was they were doing each time they headed off into the trees. In response he had complained that he didn't want to know what they were doing but that they went too far for him to easily hear or smell what they were doing when they did it.

It is almost needless to say that the number of gratuitous o-swaries shouted on the black day that he said that at least convinced him to keep his mouth shut on the subject. Miroku's bug-eyed looks lasted for weeks afterwards however, and Kagome always harbored an obscure sense of guilt over the monk's loss of innocence.

None of which had any bearing on how she felt about a bathroom where she found individual care baskets filled with all manner of toiletries and soaps.

:::OO:::

A few minutes after Kagome left Jaken appeared in the doorway to Sesshoumaru's study looking even more pale and haggard than he had the afternoon before. His skin was peeling in patches, with one or two of the Band-Aids still adhering, and his bones were visible through his sunken flesh. The laden table drew him like a magnet.

Inuyasha remained silent as the toad daemon grabbed a cup of tea in one shaking hand and peeled the cover off to bathe his face in the steam. His eyes looked dull and sunken and Inuyasha's never-very-ready sympathy was to the fore when he said; "Look, how about you take that cup of tea and we'll stick you in a tub of water somewhere.

Jaken raised sunken, dull, eyes to his and said, "Water?" in a tremulous voice that would've wrenched sympathy out of a true sociopath.

"Yeah, water, I think it's this way."

Inuyasha strode ahead, letting his nose lead the way as he searched for the bathroom where all the water smell was coming from. They exited the living room to the main hall and went through a door that Inuyasha remembered from the night before as leading to the bed rooms. A few more steps brought them to a door that stood open and there was Kagome, gathering towels and talking through a connecting doorway to someone out of sight in the tub area

Jaken stumbled ahead, drawn by that all important smell. "Water!" He croaked.

Kagome spun in alarm at the sudden invasion of the bathroom by a frantic toad daemon and clutched her stack of towels to her chest as Jaken sped past her into the tub room. Inuyasha was a whisker behind him, blasting out "Oy!" at the top of his lungs as there was an almighty splash and a rising feminine shriek.

Inuyasha slid to a halt in consternation, catching himself by his hands at the doorway and then jumped back followed by a bucketful of rinse water that included the red plastic bucket. It bounced off of his shoulder and hit Kagome.

"What are you doing?" wailed the woman's voice as sloshing splashes continued. Kagome regarded Inuyasha through matted, dripping hair and tried to blow up her bangs.

"Umm, Inuyasha?"

He looked wildly at her and winced in response to a renewed set of shrieks and sloshes from the tub. Ryosei suddenly appeared between them with a towel wrapped around her dripping self. "You absolute perverts!" She screamed in Inuyasha's face from inches away. She spun in place and shoved her middle finger up in front of Kagome's face. "I'll see you sued!"

Inuyasha straightened himself out of his reflexive cringe and tapped the woman insistently on the shoulder with a claw, his face red and brows lowered. She turned and he let her have it. "If you got a problem you'll be talking to me!" He blasted into a roar making everybody who could hear it cringe, including Sesshoumaru in his bedroom. There was a fine shower of plaster all over the apartment building and a tremor in the office building opposite that caused a picture of a particularly ugly "Beautiful View" to suddenly fall from its wall and break its frame. (The office workers promptly banded together to throw the awful thing out.)

Sesshoumaru's chill voice spoke in the ensuing silence. "I take it everyone is awake now." They slowly turned towards the daemon confronting them in the doorway, cream colored yukata pulled loosely about him. He looked faintly disheveled and more than a little peeved.

Ryosei gulped audibly and stepped backwards into the tub room, swinging the door shut after her retreating form. Kagome sighed and wiped at her face with her bundle of towels. "Good Morning, Sesshoumaru. I hope you slept well."

He inclined his head briefly in response and stood listening to the quiet sloshes and hissing whispers going on behind the tub room door. Inuyasha's ears flickered in that direction and, after a glance at his brother he spoke to the closed door panel.

"We are still out here and we can hear you just fine." The sloshing water and murmuring voices stopped. A few moments later the door swung back open and a subdued, but still towel-wrapped, Ryosei and a gleamingly dripping Jaken made their appearances.

Sesshoumaru had already left the doorway to disappear down the hall towards the enticing smells of breakfast. Kagome frowned at Jaken's appearance and told him to go back into the tub room and to take off his clothes. Her mother showed up at that point and everyone else was scooted out as they determinedly loaded their arms with towels and descended upon the unsuspecting toad daemon.

:::O0O:::

Since Sesshoumaru's ideas on hosting a meal seemed to consist of seeing that the food was on the table and sitting down to eat it in silence the seats were taken at random by a shy and puzzled group of people. Kagome and her mother remained behind firmly closed doors with Jaken. Inuyasha showed no hesitation in digging in to serve himself but the others felt uncomfortable. After a few awkward moments of watching the Inu brothers inhale food Jukuryo decided to take command and started passing plates.

He handled everything with an enthusiastic aplomb. Chatting with an obviously hung-over Jijii-Chan he sorted through wrapped food stuffs and divvied up packets of sugar and ketchup. Houjou came to the table holding his lily in one hand and promptly got a cup of water for it handed to him. Ryosei knelt at one corner swathed in a terry bathrobe with a towel around her hair and seemed to be trying to figure out how to manage an egg sandwich in one hand and a hot cup of tea in the other and fade into the woodwork all at the same time. While Inuyasha shoveled food in at a truly alarming rate it was Sesshoumaru who was disturbing; his bites were neat and efficient, his table manners were exact, but he ate rapidly and with little apparent appreciation of what it was that was going into his mouth, each bite disposed of in seconds.

Inuyasha plowed through everything with gusto but actually slowed and rolled an eye at Souta as the youngster quietly abstracted food onto a couple of plates and set them aside. "Where's that going?" he wanted to know.

Souta blushed and refilled Inuyasha's plate with hot apple pies. "It's for Mom, Jaken and Kagome. The way the way all this food is going they'll have nothing left. I'm keeping it."

"Are you eating yourself kid?" Inuyasha asked quietly under the hubbub and the faint echoes of tormented screams from Jaken in the bathroom.

"Huh?" Souta looked a little confused.

Inuyasha grunted softly. "Here, hasuburounu…tomogo WacMuffin…Orange-shiru. Eat."

Feeling a little stunned, Souta dug in.

Sesshoumaru finished and leaned back, hand cocked slightly in front of his stomach as he watched the others. Inuyasha and Souta, whispering together in their corner as they mounded food onto a couple of plates, totally ignored everyone else. Higurashi-Jijii sat swilling tea and staring vacantly into space while he grunted about being old to anyone who would listen. Jukuryo appeared quite entertained as he pressed food at a baffled Houjou and an embarrassed Ryosei with persistent cries of "Eat-up! It's good for you!" It is an odd fact that all daemons consider a high fat high calorie diet to be healthy and consider junk food to be good eating; part of what makes them tempters.

Kagome suddenly trotted in from the direction of the kitchen and called Inuyasha over to her as she headed for a chair. She handed him a roll of something black and whispered instructions to him that made him stiffen up and say loudly, "Have you lost it? No daemon's in need of that much babying."

Kagome sniffed back at him. "How would you know? He needs to be kept wet." She turned on her heel to march back into the bathroom and stopped, seeing the interested circle of faces around the table. "Good morning," she said, with a stiff bow and returned the way she had come to pull open the doors of the room and assist her mother in steering a tottering bundle of sopping wet towels across the floor.

Inuyasha swore softly as he pulled several plastic trash bags from the roll that Kagome had handed him and split them with his claws down the side to drape the chair that the little group was headed for.

"That's nice, Inuyasha." Higurashi-San told him with a smile. "Now, if you could just lift him into the chair for me?"

Inuyasha shrugged and plopped the diminutive daemon into an approximately seated position on the plastic-wrapped chair. The bundle moaned softly, dripping steadily on the floor.

Higurashi-San nodded and gave Kagome a roll of paper towels, causing the girls shoulders to slump as she dropped to her knees and started mopping up their trail. She turned and raised her voice slightly to speak to everyone at the table. "I believe that you called Jaken back here so he can answer questions that you had about his recent activities and the staff."

There was a silence at the table and Sesshoumaru frowned abstractedly as he stared down at his empty plate before him. "This Sesshoumaru has read the reports. There seems to be little question as to what went on. This Sesshoumaru has no interest in feeble excuses."

The moaning from the Jaken bundle turned into a faint wail. Inuyasha cuffed it lightly to shut him up.

Jukuryo had read the reports too and did have a few questions about what had gone on but had no clear idea of what he wanted to ask first so he bit his lip in silence. It was mostly Sesshoumaru's affair.

Kagome spoke up from where she was kneeling and blotting ineffectually at the carpet. "Well, I have a question I want Jaken to answer. If nobody objects." They all turned and looked at her as she stood up. "Jaken, where's Rin? That little girl who used to accompany you?"

Jaken slid off of the chair to land with a wet plop on the floor. Sesshoumaru stood up and made to leave the room as Inuyasha prodded the damp bundle with a foot. "Dang, Kagome, he's out like a light. You're getting good at this."

:::OOO0::0OOO:::

Smiles evilly Before anybody asks there was foreshadowing for this in some of the previous chapters. Only one or two people seem to have figured that out though.

Reviews are so nice….


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Inuyasha gave an infuriated grunt as he dumped the toad daemon, still swathed in sodden towels back into the tub of now cool water. 'I do not want to be here.' he reflected irritably, ignoring the squawks from the suddenly thrashing youkai. 'There are better things in life to do than camping out in my brother's apartment.' He dropped to his haunches and contemplated what those many things were.

Jaken stood up in the tub and attempted to climb out. "You can't keep me like this!"

"Oh, shut-up!" snarled the hanyou and grabbed him on the top of his skull, pressing down until the quivering servant had no choice but to sink back down into the water, towels floating up around him. "You come out when I say so and not a moment sooner."

"But I'm getting all pruney. What are you trying to do to me?"

"Shut you up." And, with a more forceful shove, he sent the toad daemon's head under water producing a satisfying flood of bubbles.

"Uh, hey! You can't do that!" Houjou's shocked voice caused Inuyasha to turn around with a snarl.

"What are you doing in here?"

Houjou quailed a bit under the scowling golden gaze and the gleam of a distinctly visible fang and then rallied as another bubble burst up from the depths of the tub. "I was just here to use the facilities but I can't allow you to commit murder!" He took a step forward with a vague intention of wresting the creature's clawed hands away from his drowning victim while shouting for help.

Inuyasha forestalled him by dragging the body of his victim out of the tub by the scruff of his neck. "Daemons are hard to kill, human. See, he's fine." Houjou's eyes dilated with alarm as he saw the limp, dripping, form of the little green man dangling from the monster's clawed grasp. His horror-struck expression caused the hanyou's own eyes to turn and take in the piteous sight of an apparently dead Jaken.

"Murderer," Houjou gasped and lunged so quickly to grab the small body away from its tormenter that he left a bit of Jaken's collar behind in Inuyasha's releasing grasp. He had Jaken's limp body flat on its back on the floor and was about to deliver two rescue breaths when his "drowning victim" suddenly sprang to life and scrambled away from him with a squawk.

Inuyasha burst into sniggering laughter under Jaken's malevolent glare as Kagome stuck her head into the room. "What is it now? Oh, Jaken-San is awake again? Good." She noticed Houjou, kneeling with a dismayed expression on his face in the middle of the floor. "Houjou, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to use the toilet off of the front hall." She turned her head back to Jaken again without waiting for a reply and scarcely taking a breath. "Jaken-San, are you re-hydrated now?" She asked politely.

"Re-hydrated?! Is that what you call it?" Jaken turned his malevolence at Kagome and shook a finger. "Waterlogged is more like it, Missy! What were you thinking of to leave me alone with this homicidal maniac?" Jaken made a dramatic sweep of one arm and lost his remaining towel.

"There's gratitude for ya!" Inuyasha's bad temper had returned in a flash. "I provide water and get called a homicidal maniac for my trouble. You pretend to be dead and some idiot actually believes it. Cover yourself, you're turning my stomach." He slapped the wet towel back at Jaken, drawing a surprised yelp.

Houjou spoke to Kagome in low tones. "What is going on here, Kagome?" He started to climb shakily to his feet, ignored by the two youkai who were involved in a staring and growling match. "I thought I saw this long-haired guy trying to drown the little green guy."

Kagome folded her arms and looked at him for a moment; not without some sympathy. "Houjou-Kun, all I can say is; they have to be destroyed to be killed. Inuyasha gets so hurt sometimes that I can barely stand it. Then he heals right up." She was leading him out of the bathroom while she spoke. "Why even Shippou more or less just wears the band-aides as badges. There's never been a mark when he strips them back off again but he might keep demanding new band-aides several times a day." She smiled at some memory. "Little beggar…The bathroom I was pointing you toward is there," she said, indicating a door off of the main foyer.

Houjou had no choice but to go and spend some time alone wondering who in blazes Shippou was and if he could possibly be worse than Inuyasha.

:::0:::

Eventually they all regrouped again around the now cleared table. Jaken and Ryosei were both pale and haggard after their experiences of the days before but Houjou looked little better. It was he who shared a nervous shifting of the eyes with Ryosei, wincing whenever any of the youkai present spoke.

Sesshoumaru knelt on his zabuton pillow and stared off over the heads of those gathered there out at the skyline of the city and unknowingly echoed his brothers wish to be somewhere else. Jukuryo Aida may have been a mildly notorious dealer in the antiques and artifacts trade. Indeed, in certain quarters there were fairly well-substantiated rumors of a yakuza connection which the Tokyo police watched from a respectful distance. So far as the youkai community was concerned however, Jukuryo Aida was a force to be reckoned with: he was one of the first youkai to have successfully melded in with human society and the oldest living youkai continuing to administer his own business empire. He held no official post and sat on no council seat but his word was listened to.

And now this had come up. He had originally set spies on Jukuryo to discover contacts and business methods. And contacting him regarding the staff when Jaken disappeared had been a bid for damage control. But the problem had been much further-reaching than he had anticipated. Sesshoumaru dropped his eyes to where his hands lay, carefully relaxed in his lap. The urge to clench them and growl was almost overwhelming. He could hear the demented human shrine priest now discussing the likelihood of some local team winning some game or other and smell Jukuryo lighting up one of his disgusting cigarettes. His brow twitched before he could control It.

Jukuryo slid his eyes in the direction of the daemon lord and offered a cigarette to the hollow-eyed Jaken. It was interesting to watch the dynamic that emerged as the little toad daemon struggled with his need for a smoke in the face of Sesshoumaru's thinly veiled displeasure. "Take it," he said soothingly, "you've been through a great deal."

Jaken considered his options. At one time he knew that he would've felt obligated to turn the offer down with an insult on Sesshoumaru's behalf. But, his nerves were shot these days, and his little sojourn on a plane of hell had been enough to instill a feeling of inevitability to the whole situation. There was no help for it. Everything he said was going to distress Sesshoumaru; silence would only draw unfavorable attention to his lord and it was hopeless to think he'd ever be forgiven. Sesshoumaru's attitude when he regained consciousness last night had driven that fact home.

Jaken accepted the cigarette and drew on it in a pall of gloom, filling his little lungs with the smoke. Pity he couldn't catch a rapid-acting cancer and just keel over on the spot. He pushed the breath out and was disappointed to find that his mouth was no longer in the proper shape to blow a smoke ring. He had never thought he would have an occasion to miss the human body that Sesshoumaru had imposed on him.

Another few puffs and he could sense everyone's impatience to get on with things. The hanyou had opened his mouth twice only to be shushed by the little miko. Inuyasha didn't look inclined to stay shushed for long and was as unpredictable as his older brother. Best to get on with things. He stubbed out his cigarette and cleared his throat.

"You asked me a question, Kagome-San. I will answer your questions."

The girl looked at him attentively and he got the odd impression that she was receptive to what he had to say and would withhold judgment until the end although she made no other sign. He inhaled shakily and locked his attention on her clear eyes and gentle face as he commenced his tale.

"Some twenty-five years ago Sesshoumaru-Sama and I arrived in this time."

"How?" Kagome asked quietly.

"Through a tunnel that the wind user Kagura showed us."

Kagome quietly filed this away for future reference. "Was Rin with you then?"

Jaken sighed and risked a glimpse of Sesshoumaru. His face was cold and unresponsive as he contemplated something in the middle distance. 'A passing plane perhaps. Who knows?' Jaken mused and returned his attention back to the girl and her question. "Yes."

"How old was she then?"

"How should I know? She was a young child when my lord first traveled with her and was still a child when we traversed time some six years after we met her."

"So, you wandered all that time."

"Yes." Even Jaken felt this to be an unsatisfactory answer and expanded on it a bit. "The western lands were in torment from the endless petty wars of the humans. And Naraku had consumed so many youkai in his greed that there were few left to rule over." Jaken slid his eyes meaningfully at Inuyasha. "That and the violent actions of others had reduced the population to crisis stage."

Inuyasha simply stared back at him. 'No admission of guilt there,' Jaken thought, 'just a killing machine that destroyed any youkai in his path.' Sure, he had heard of Inuyasha's tendency to extend clemency to any who did not directly attack humans, but he didn't believe it. That hadn't been the hanyou's reputation in the distant past, before he was sealed. 'Homicidal maniac…'

Jukuryo cleared his throat and Jaken came back to himself with a start.

"As I said, we eventually found a passage to this world and quickly found that my appearance made me all but useless and that we would have to adjust. We were fortunate to fall in almost immediately with a group of masterless youkai that wandered the streets of this city at night. They were quickly brought to appreciate the power of my lord and we were introduced to the concepts of business in this time.

"In order for me to be useful a spell was purchased from a mystic that would alter appearance. The spell had unfortunate effects when tried on me however, and could not easily be removed."

In his surprise, Jukuryo broke in. "You mean you permitted some fly by night operator to put a change spell on you? It's a wonder you weren't stuck that way."

Jaken dropped his head.

"You were stuck in human form? But your powers must have been practically sealed!" Jukuryo turned to Sesshoumaru accusingly. "You must know by now about the nature of the masking spells. Why didn't you have the change spell removed and a more modern product applied?"

Sesshoumaru replied through tight lips. "It was an oversight."

"But you left a dangerous item in the care of a near human."

The faintest touch of color stained the daemon lord's cheeks. "That too, was an over sight."

"One that has cost both human and youkai lives." Jukuryo observed dryly.

Kagome shifted impatiently. "Jaken, about Rin.."

Jaken's voice was squeaky as he resumed his tale. "I could still control the staff. I merely didn't allow it to feed and kept it near Sesshoumaru-Sama's calming presence. So long as I remained near him the trouble was minimal. This worked well for several years and I continued to do Sesshoumaru-Sama's bidding in the matter of caring for the child, Rin.

"Rin grew older apace though and frequently tired of the tutors that saw to her education and became intractable. The only person she ever really attended to was Sesshoumaru-Sama's own self. However, business concerns often kept him away for days at a time and I began having difficulties with my accursed human form and the control of the staff. It tested the limits of my control and often proved as troublesome as Rin ever had.

"It was on one of those troublesome days that Rin took a supply of money and escaped the watchful eyes of her retainers to go shopping on her own. I used the staff to trail her to the subway and managed to find her on the train as we drew into the Kasumigaeski station. I was angry and argued with her about her behavior. We didn't pay any attention when one of the men next to us put his rolled-up paper on the floor and stabbed his umbrella tip into it.

"He actually knocked me down in his hurry to get off and I was still regaining my feet with Rin's help when everyone in the carriage began coughing. No one knew what was going on and the stinging of the vapor was truly terrible.

"Fortunately, my travels with my lord had honed my defensive instincts and I recognized that it was something discharging into the air of the carriage. I was able to cast a weak barrier using the staff, but Rin could not see and I was in very little better case. In the confusion, we became separated and I had to fight my way back to her side. She was lying unconscious and I truly feared her dead. In my desperation I invoked a percussive blast from the staff that cleared the immediate area of both air and people. I was then able to draw Rin over my shoulder and make my way out more easily.

"I laid her down in the street and was forced to wait until my eyes cleared a little before I could even see where assistance for her might be. It was amazing, there we were, in the middle of the side walk and many of the passersby still were continuing on their way to work. Rin did not wake up. Not then, not after weeks in the hospital. Sesshoumaru-Sama eventually removed her from that hospital's care."

The group around the table was silent as the diminutive toad daemon sat with hanging head for a moment. "He has not spoken to me since, and the staff became more active during the weeks of my convalescence. Many were injured and there was little treatment available that helped but time itself."

"Some died." Higurashi-San commented. "What happened to the people whom you knocked aside with the power of the staff in the subway car?"

Jaken looked at her out of chill eyes. "I had my charge. As you said, some died. The staff is powerful and inimical to humans. It is a living thing with desires of its own. Several times in the past years I have found myself wandering the streets, staff in hand, with no idea how I had gotten there. It could be that my unusual demands on it had loosened my hold and I no longer could be sure of it."

Jaken lifted his head and looked at Kagome. "It was during one of those times that I recently found the location of your shrine. It seemed to me the staff had led me there but it took weeks of observation before I discovered why. During that time I struck up an alliance with Yasuku-San."

Jaken looked over at Ryosei who remained grimly silent. Houjou sat just beyond her and looked from Jaken to Ryosei with an open air of extreme puzzlement. "I still was nearly human at the time, Boy. Ryosei, for all her ambition, knew nothing of daemons. Pay attention." Both Ryosei and Houjou stared back at him with similar expressions that seemed to say 'Would that have been where it had ended.'

Jaken sighed and resumed his tale. "I was very much at a loose end with no regular duties and Ryosei's eyes are ever bigger than her stomach."

Ryosei colored and hung her head, but the glare she shot under dropped lids at Jaken was pure acid. He coughed and accepted a cup of cold, over-steeped tea, from Souta. "I helped her in her information gathering and she provided cash so I could survive."

Jaken risked a glance at Sesshoumaru, whose eyes burned like gimlets. His voice went squeaky again and he took another swig of the awful tea. "I was having more blackouts and the staff was causing me severe troubles. I was sure it was feeding during my periods of unconsciousness, the youkai and humans that Ryosei and I were investigating kept disappearing. But things were very busy and Sesshoumaru-Sama still did not wish to speak to me and I could keep it from doing much of anything else.

"It was looking for gates you see, and the well house in the shrine drew it. So, I began to watch the place. I hoped to discover what drew the staff to that place but the gate was quite inactive when not being used. Then I saw you and Inuyasha appear from the well house one night, Kagome-San, and… well… you know the rest."

Kagome broke the heavy silence in the room after a few moments. "So, you lost control of the Staff of Two Heads and could not get Sesshoumaru to listen to you. Ryosei-San is an adventuress and was taken over by the staff and here we are. But, Jaken, where is Rin-Chan? Still in a hospital somewhere? How sad. I guess some people still are in comas from that time."

Jaken sighed and his shoulders slumped even further if that were possible. "I thought I had made it clear. I don't know. Only Sesshoumaru-Sama knows and he has not spoken to me from that day to this."

:::00:::

Reviews are so nice...

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A/N Just in case anybody has any interest: I just went though and repaired all thedamaged files to the prequel to this; Only to be Distracted. It's got its own charm, in my biased opinion, and gives alot of backgroud information that winds up a mere 3 weeks prior to the start of this story. Who knows how long that poor thing was unreadable?

Worked on the format and spelling too. Yea! Nokomarie the Snake


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

"I'm going to be leaving shortly, Kagome. I want you and Inuyasha to stay here until matters are straightened out a bit better. I really think there are too many questions still up in the air for us to just walk away."

"Oh, but Mama…" Kagome jiggled unhappily on one foot while she watched her mother make up the bed in one of the apartment's guest rooms. Higurashi-San couldn't see leaving such a thing for the maids when she was perfectly capable of doing it. She would have given the entire house a thorough cleaning if she had thought she could get away with it.

"Kagome Chan, I really have to get on with preparations for your wedding, Souta may as well come home with me now and Jijii-Chan has obligations at the shrine."

"Well, of course…But why can't Inuyasha and I come home too? Sesshoumaru has the staff of two heads back and It's sad about Rin but…" She trailed off as her mother looked at her with reproach in her eyes.

"Kagome, do you think they're just going to let Houjou-Chan go home?" Higurashi-San inquired gently and held her hand out for a pillowcase.

The girl passed over the pillowcase automatically before the implications of what her mother had asked sank in. She gulped and her eyes widened. "T-they won't? Why not?"

Her mother rolled her own eyes expressively. "Men, you know. Houjou-Kun knows about daemons now. So they're likely to keep him locked up here along with Ryosei-San until they figure out what to do about his memory." Her movements were brisk, indicating disapproval.

Kagome pared a glance over her shoulder at the partially open bedroom door and lowered her voice. "Mama, have you been watching too many of those mystery-thrillers or something? Houjou-Kun would never spill the beans to the authorities. Even if he did talk, who would believe him?"

"Oh, I know that dear." Her mother did not trouble to lower hers. "But it's a matter of convincing Jukuryo-San and Sesshoumaru-Sama of that. Mark my words; they will not trust him." She gathered up the bundle of used sheets and turned to the door. "So, that's why I want you to stay and persuade them otherwise. That, and keep the peace between Sesshoumaru and our Inuyasha."

Kagome reluctantly accepted what her mother said and started to help gather her family's scattered belongings before seeing them out the door. Inuyasha was nowhere to be found and Jukuryo seemed to be involved in interviews with Jaken and Ryosei-San. Sesshoumaru was giving the Higurashis a lift home and seemed to be actually having a conversation of some sort with Jijii-Chan as they left.

Nonplussed, Kagome waved and shut the apartment door behind them. Over the years her ideas of Sesshoumaru had been a cautious mirror of Inuyasha's own. From their first meeting with that simply abysmal trick involving the apparent revival of Inuyasha's mother to actually staying as a guest in his Tokyo apartment seemed too unlikely a course of events to be believed. Here she paused and shrugged. It seemed Sesshoumaru was likely to continue to be a walking contradiction, much like his brother.

Wondering where Inuyasha had gotten to she went into the kitchen in search of something to do. She did not know Houjou was standing frozen in the shadows of the back hallway having overheard her conversation with her mother. Nor did she see the angry hurt in his eyes.

:::0:::

Inuyasha was bored with food and TV and was wandering the apartment in search of Kagome when he spotted his quarry in the front hall. He frowned mightily, Kagome was balancing a set of metal trays and disassembled steaming racks precariously on one hip as she jiggled open the door to a pantry next to the kitchen. That was fine if she wanted to waste time that way. It was the fact that he also spotted Houjou walking up behind her and lifting a hand to touch her shoulder that made him frown. Houjou reached forward just as the door came open and she stepped out of his reach into the small pantry.

In a silent rush Inuyasha caught at the back of Houjou's collar and gave a light yank that nearly pulled the boy backwards off of his feet. He held him within the curve of his arm with his hand fisted into the back of Houjou's shirt. "Where do you think you are going?" He breathed, nearly nose to nose with him. Beyond them the door swung shut again behind an oblivious Kagome.

Houjou hesitated, bathed in hot, tea-scented breath. The hand holding the back of his shirt flexed a little and an over-strained button popped off. "I was trying to get Kagome alone." He found himself whispering too. "So I could talk to her. Like in a private conversation…?"

Inuyasha appeared to consider this and the human boy was forced to wait as the hanyou did not release him. "Have you ever talked to Kagome alone?" The question sounded almost reasonable; as if Inuyasha honestly wanted to know.

The human boy stiffened his back, ignoring the uncomfortable stress the position was putting on his armpits. "Of course. There's nothing wrong with that." The youkai holding his shirt remained silent, face still and eyes expectant. 'Might as well take the plunge.' Houjou thought, 'He really needs setting straight on what's acceptable behavior here.' Houjou's eyes caught and held Inuyasha's. "We've even been out alone together on a couple of dates." He said stoutly.

There was a sudden, nearly weightless, sensation of whirling and an equally sudden impact. Houjou found himself being held several feet above the ground against the exterior wall of the living room, quite some distance away from their starting point in the front foyer.

Inuyasha turned Houjou's face down towards his own with a clawed hand curved at the back of his neck. "Oh really?" He spoke in a low, vibrating snarl. His irises began to flicker red through the gold and a mad little blue light seemed to shine in the pupils.

Houjou gulped.

"Savor those moments then for you'll never speak to her alone again." Inuyasha stopped, as if fighting some interior battle, and suddenly dropped Houjou to the floor. He turned his back and walked away, returning to the front foyer, closing the living room door quietly behind him.

Houjou picked himself up, pulling his shirt straight and finding the collar and shoulders neatly sliced clear through at several points.

"You are a very lucky boy." Jukuryo's dry voice nearly made Houjou jump straight out of his skin. He turned and found the old youkai leaning against the frame of the doorway into Sesshoumaru's study. Beyond him he could see Ryosei sitting in a chair by the desk "The inu-youkai are notoriously territorial and short tempered where their mates are concerned. He must have a real reason for being so forbearing with you. I wouldn't push things any further if I were in your shoes though. The girl's taken: Get used to it." With that, he too left the room and closed the door leaving Houjou to look about and discover Jaken the toad daemon sitting on the couch staring coldly at him. Jaken didn't speak, only changed the channel and kept a tight grip on the remote. Houjou was left to the enjoy the tender mercies of the bento box lunch tray and the inanity of daytime TV in silence.

:::0o0:::

Inuyasha eased the living room door closed behind him and paced softly forwards to the door that Kagome had gone through. He could hear her humming to herself under her breath as she shifted things about. He debated waiting out in the hallway for her to finish but decided against it. It was too good a chance to get her alone to waste. Blocking the knowledge that he was acting partially to get one (or more) up on Houjou from his mind he eased the door to the pantry open. Sesshoumaru was heading across town, Jukuryo was busy and nobody else counted in Inuyasha's opinion; so he was free to act.

Kagome was standing on tiptoe on the precarious support of the bottom of an upturned plastic bucket, attempting to ease one of the steaming racks into an empty spot on a shelf well above her head. There was a stool in the kitchen that she could have stood on but that would have meant another trip. As it was, she teetered precariously and was just about to stumble back off when an arm clasped around her waist and a clawed hand grabbed the steam tray above her head and easily maneuvered it onto the high shelf.

"Thank you." she said with a smile as she turned within the circle of Inuyasha's arm. He instinctively tightened his grip as he felt her move and she found herself looking down at the top of his head where it was now firmly nestled between her breasts, ears stiffly perked. "Oops. Sorry." She said. The ears quivered and she felt, rather than heard, the vibration of a faint "Woof."

After a moment he reluctantly made as if to release her only to pull her against him again as the bucket chose that instant to buckle and tip over. She grabbed at his shoulders, fingers digging into his shirt as he eased her down his body to where her toes could touch the floor. She kept her arms around his neck when he loosened his grasp upon her and lifted his head so that he could see.

He looked lazy and pleased, golden eyes half-lidded as he inhaled deeply. He could taste her scent and still feel the warmth of her body pressed against his. This was more like it. She still had not released his shoulders and her face was a little flushed. Her eyes had lost none of the depth that sadness had given her over the past couple of years but her sorrow was almost erased. It was as if she finally realized that the memory of what had gone before and her own perceptions of betrayal had been merely that; a perception and no real part of the truth. _That_ memory now held nothing that any longer had the power to hurt.

His attention was drawn back to external things as she wet her lips with the tip of a pink tongue and pulled at him to bring his face down to hers. "Yes, this is much more like it." She said and kissed his surprised face.

'When did she…' He dropped that line of thought, whatever it had been and turned his head to enjoy the kiss more. "It's been too long, Kagome."

She chuckled faintly as she slid her hand up his back under his hair. "Mmmn, since last night." He kissed her neck in response and stroked a hand between her legs, pressing upwards. She gasped a little and eased backwards to look down only to encounter the wooden shelves of the pantry at her shoulders. "Inu…"

He kissed her again.

Feeling very dizzy she tried to connect the dots in an appropriate line. "Inuyasha, won't they..?"

He nipped her ear, bringing his lips to the edge of the pinna and nibbling (oh, so delicately. How did he do that? He was bringing her apart) mouthing the earlobe before speaking; "They won't, if you don't yell." He murmured shamelessly.

Her eyes flashed and she snapped even as she held his head to her neck with a forearm, "I don't yell."

He rumbled a bit in what she wanted to call a purr but the one time she had done that he'd been quite insulted. "Yes, you do."

"No…I don't!"

He hooked his hands around her hips and turned her. With a quick downwards flick of his fingers before her hipbones and his thumbs upwards behind, she found herself cocking up for him as he crowded in while she fended them both off of the shelves. "Hey, don't we need to take some things off to do that?" She could hear the joyous rumble of his seldom-heard laugh.

"Could be you're right. This could work better." Inuyasha's hands became busy.

Kagome blushed and turned around, dropping her head for the sheer shame and delight of what they were doing. But her hands went out anyway and even though she was blushing there was a smile as she undid buttons and zippers and helped him with her own.

Moments later, he gathered her back into his arms and turned her back towards the shelves. She tangled her fingers in his silver hair and he hissed quietly as he was forced to bend over more than he wanted to, bending his back to curve over hers. No matter, even his hair was stronger than her fingers and he simply pulled her arm up along with his head as he re-angled her hips. Her slender back sloped down and he stroked his hands over her rounded white haunches, parting her.

In a rush, he was where he wanted to be; with her impaled upon him and one hand splayed over her tummy and the other braced against a shelf. They moved to accommodate each other Both of his hands traveled her body as she gripped the shelf in front of her with whitening knuckles.

"Ooh, Inuyashaaa…" Time passed unnoticed.

:::00:::0:::00:::

Sesshoumaru let himself into the apartment and paused, sniffing the air. "No…Don't event think it ." he muttered to himself. He was forced into a confirmation of his suspicion in the very next instant.

"Mi-mine--Ka-Go-Me!" The voice came, not muffled nearly enough , from his pantry closet. In the fragile privacy of his own front hall Sesshoumaru permitted himself to sag for the briefest of moments. He shrugged off his coat and simply followed it into the closet when the door to the pantry opened and Kagome stepped out. She was looking slightly ruffled but glowingly pretty and self-satisfied and went off with a provocative sway to her hips.

Inuyasha's luck ran out however as he stepped out of the pantry in Kagome's wake only to find himself nose to nose with an irate youkai lord. They stared at each other in complete silence for a long moment. It was Inuyasha who dropped his eyes first with a flush mantling his cheeks.

"Ah, shame, Inuyasha. You amaze me. Where shall I have the contents of my pantry delivered? The Higurashi establishment? Or are you planning on moving In? Let me know so I can pack."

"I don't want to be here." Inuyasha forced his eyes up to his brother's disapproving face. "I'll gladly leave you to fumigate your pantry in peace and never darken your doors again. Just as soon as Higurashi-San is satisfied as to your intentions towards the humans in your hands."

Sesshoumaru's jaw dropped and he waggled it slightly. " My intentions towards the hu--. So she wants to have you watching does she? I suppose you intend to take notes while I flay those two alive? Or may be I'll turn Jaken back human again and just do all three?"

"That's just gross, Sesshoumaru."

"Compared to violating the sanctity of my pantry?" Sesshoumaru's voice was starting to gain in volume.

"Look, it's not like it's my fault that your ass has no relationships whatsoever!"

"What could you know of my private business?!"

"I don't need to know your private business…I know you!"

Sesshoumaru took a slight step back. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Inuyasha sneered and folded his arms. "I'm here to check on the welfare of the humans under your care. All of the humans under your care."

There was an extended silence, then Sesshoumaru turned to leave.

"Hey, wait, Shit-head! We're not finished." Inuyasha had danced around to stand in front of his brother again.

Sesshoumaru snarled in response.

"Not going to work, brother-mine. I know where you put Rin. I know she's still alive. But have you ever figured out the consequences? What are your intentions towards Rin? Or did you even think that far when you did it?"

A voice sounded from the living room door. "What consequences? Where did he put her?" Kagome stood with her head sticking through. The shouted conversation had been too much for her discretion.

"Where else does a Daemon lord keep anything Kagome?" Inuyasha looked quite smug. "The only question is, what were his intentions? How about it Sesshoumaru? What was it; possession, prey or mate?"

Sesshoumaru scowled and fixed his gaze on the floor as he shouldered past Inuyasha. "What does it matter?" He muttered. "In this ere, she shouldn't even be alive."

:::0o0o0::::

Sorry for the wait, what a pig of a chapter to write!

Reviews are so nice, bribes gratefully accepted….


	31. Chapter 31

Last Chapter:

"Where else does a Daemon lord keep anything, Kagome?" Inuyasha looked quite smug. "The only question is: 'what were his intentions?'"

" How about it, Sesshoumaru? What was it; 'possession', 'prey', or 'mate'?"

Sesshoumaru scowled and fixed his gaze on the floor as he shouldered past Inuyasha. "What does it matter?" he muttered. "In this era, she shouldn't even be alive."

Chapter 31

The feeling around the city and environs of Tokyo was decidedly up-beat on this clear morning. The crossing guards gave an extra snap to their batons as they pretended to conduct traffic. The pink-clad parking ticket ladies were out in force ticketing cars that had been left carelessly in (or moved to) inappropriate locations. The monsters were gone, and the prime minister had been found asleep, tucked onto a ledge deep in the sewer system and was now firmly advocating for a full clean-up of the city's sewers - and for him going away for a little rest.

His quote on the subject: '"These things could have rats!"' took the town by storm and was being repeated throughout the city in reference to everything from office buildings to piles of visitor's shoes left at the entrance to a shrine.

One of those shrines where the quote was repeated was the Higurashi Sunset shrine. When the family returned from their sudden trip to Roppangi Hills they found a crowded scene of bustling activity. There were people stopping for prayerswho hadn't stopped by the shrine in years and the forecourt was crowded with people rinsing their mouths at the dragon fountain and buying incense sticks. Two of the shrine members who had stopped for their daily devotions had ended up staying to cover for Higurashi-Jijii's inexplicable absence. The family's arrival in Sesshoumaru's sedate gray Bentley was greeted with cries of relief. It was just as well Jijii-Chan arrived dressed for work even if he was a little more rumpled and cranky than usual.

Souta was enthralled to find that the day had been declared off from school. However, he felt a bit cheated as he had promised faithfully not to reveal the events of the past night and he had to content himself with just listening to his friend's stories. He comforted himself with high expectations of future profit. He figured a bribe from such a person as Sesshoumaru would probably be worth it since he was thinking along the lines of a personal hovercraft.

Higurashi-San found Buyo in sole possession of the kitchen tablewhere all of her work from the afternoon before lay crumpled and oddly water-stained. She sighed and stared at the ruined mess of wedding invitations, her mind going to the couple of family members still in Roppangi Hills.

:::0:::

Sesshoumaru had taken his opportunity to head down the hallway towards the bed rooms with Inuyasha right after him. The doors into the rest of the apartment were all open and everyone was looking at him.

"How about it, huh, Sesshoumaru? Wanna tell us what you were thinking? Did she have a choice in the matter?" Inuyasha's voice had an unreal quality as it echoed off of the walls and ceilings of the rooms that they passed. It was like some kind of sonic map of the apartment and all those listening heads - heads that were shamelessly poking into the hallway from the side doors with both youkai and human ears aquiver with interest.

Goaded beyond endurance, Sesshoumaru spun around. "What do you think? Do you think you have any business regarding what I keep in my own home?"

After an instant of shocked looks from his audience the full weight of his own admission struck him. He stared at the hanyou in silence.

He didn't feel like he knew this stern young youkai at all well. Not only were the clothes on his back different but so was the expression. Previously, the whelp from his father's second marriage had always struck him with an obvious short-sightedness and a total lack of care for anything but his own personal honor. Now, the hanyou's eyes reflected a concern for him of all things. "Impudence…" was all he could say in response. "_Impudence_".

Inuyasha held his brother's gaze steadily as he answered, "The child with you was weak and without a defender. But she was the one who chose to follow you and she kept her own identity. Now she is in your household, a living possession, and unable to speak for herself." Inuyasha hesitated for a moment before continuing. The older youkai's look was shuttered and as blank as an old wall with something hidden behind it.

When Inuyasha spoke again; it was carefully, "You never thought you were in the wrong before, Sesshoumaru; never concealed from yourself or me what you were doing regardless of what your minions said. Now you flinch away from the truth. Why is that?"

"Inuyasha, pardon me, but…Konnichiwa, Sesshoumaru." Kagome slid herself along the wall and insinuated herself between them, facing Sesshoumaru squarely but grabbing at Inuyasha's hand. She looked earnestly into the tall youkai's face, noting the traces of red in the irises and the faint deformity of the cheeks. "Is Rin-Chan ready to see visitors?"

Sesshoumaru could not even answer that.

"May we go and see her? I know it is not easy…. but, I am your brother's wife, after all. From what I understand, all you need to do is invite us in."

The breath of seven breathing creatures was held. Sesshoumaru's own not the least. 'What am I going to say?' He wondered dreamily as he stood at bay in front of the door of his own bedroom. He wondered if any, in known history, had ever felt so cornered over something so small? Any youkai of his stature, at any rate; he could well imagine lesser individuals…

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Yes!" He snapped, coming to attention.

"Yes!" Kagome repeated, clapping her hands and turning around to beam at the others. "You see, Inuyasha, all you need to do is ask politely. Sesshoumaru is very reasonable. When can we see her Sesshoumaru?" she said, turning back to him.

Under the flood of words Sesshoumaru considered his options. He knew the human girl would not shut up and Jukuryo was standing in the doorway to his study with a sardonically expectant look on his face that mirrored Inuyasha's. He recalled having once announced to a different hanyou that he did not allow himself to be forced into anything. But, like all such absolute statements, there comes a time when it is disproved. With a mental shrug, Sesshoumaru gave himself up to the inevitable and cut across Kagome's line of chatter with an abrupt announcement; "It can only be in the company of Inuyasha that you can enter my domain, Miko. The others will have to wait for your report."

With a sense of reluctance that he did little to conceal he dragged his eyes from Kagome's limpid pools to the blankly astonished stare of his brother's eyes. "Will you enter, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha bit his lip then caught at Kagome's hand with a sharp nod. Sesshoumaru opened his bedroom door and stepped inside, followed by the other two, before he shut it again sharply behind them, locking it with a definite snap. He led the way across the sparsely decorated bedroom to a set of sliding glass doors that opened onto his private balcony and stepped through them.

Faint noises of the traffic below them filtered up but the view was carefully screened by plantings and only clear sky was visible. Sesshoumaru reached into the open neck of his shirt and drew out a small bag remarkably similar to the one around Inuyasha's own neck and reached a pair of claws into it. With a deft flick he tossed a shiny pebble down in front of him and grabbed Inuyasha's free hand in a death grip that made the hanyou wince as he was yanked forward, Kagome in tow.

:::00o00:::

The group left waiting in the hallway stood about staring at the locked bedroom door for a minute, but, whatever was going on inside, there was nothing to be heard. Jukuryo turned to the two humans and beckoned them into the study with him while Jaken settled down to wait outside of his master's door in solitude.

Jukuryo directed Ryosei and Houjou to seat themselves and took the chair behind the desk for his own use. He steepled his fingers and looked at the two humans over the tops of them, "I have thought about this for some hours now, and I think I have a way for us all to go home satisfied with the current situation without anything so very drastic needing to be done. Ryosei, please pour some tea for us all. You will find the kettle waiting over there."

Ryosei looked about herself and finally spotted one of the ubiquitous insulated carafes that are to be found in every Japanese home and office waiting on a small trolley by the door. Three cups sat next to it and she filled them and passed them around before re-seating herself. Jukuryo nodded his thanks and put several packets of sugar in his before commencing to speak.

"Youkai have a long and noble history in Japan which has become a matter legend in human society rather than fact. It is more comfortable to believe that the illustrations of daemons and demi-gods to be found on old Buddhist wall scrolls to be mere artistic representations of philosophical thought rather than reality. The monsters are seen by modern man as symbols of untamed nature and an attempt to explain away night fears. These days, many such things only see the light of day in the form of animated children's shows. And so it should be." The stirring spoon paused and Jukuryo used it to point at the pair across the desk from him. "Drink your tea now; it's getting cold."

Surprised, they both recollected themselves and took hearty swigs. The tea was bitter but neither of them made a move to get any sugar; Jukuryo was speaking again and slowly stirring the tea in his untasted cup as he spoke.

"I well remember how frightened I was of the first human I ever met," he chuckled reminiscently. "I may have been frightened but the human was terrified and dropped his pack and everything he was carrying to run in the other direction." Jukuryo paused for a moment and sighed. "He shouldn't have run like that; it did him no good, no good at all."

The pair across the desk stared at him owlishly and Jukuryo made an impatient gesture with the hand holding the spoon. "Fell off a cliff. Never mind all that; drink up. Now, where was I?" he mused as he watched the young man and woman empty their cups. "Oh, yes. It seemed to me in later years that not every human is cut out to know about youkai. You two, for instance, feel very threatened by the mere thought. You both would rather go to sleep and wake not knowing about all this. Houjou could well wake up and find he met a lovely young lady at the amusement park the other night and she has picked him up for a date. He will have accepted that Kagome is happy with her new husband and he wishes them well. And Ryosei works as my office assistant and has a somewhat shady past that she doesn't remember well and never thinks about. She is too happy in her job and she rather thinks she may pursue this new young man she met who would give her a pleasant steadiness in her life. We can get in my car, which should be arriving to pick us up about now and I'll wake you from your pleasant naps when we arrive at my office. Shall we go?"

Jukuryo stood and watched as the other two got out of their chairs with similar dazed expressions. He rather thought they would last nicely until he got them into his car and he gestured them out before him. He quietly took the tea carafe up as he followed them out of the apartment. No point in leaving that around. Not everybody wanted their memories tampered with.

:::0o0o0:::

Kagome stumbled a bit on some unevenness in the footing and fetched up against Inuyasha's back. They found themselves in a torch-lit courtyard before an ancient villa. Its wings swept forward surrounding the area with their deep verandas. Behind her she could just make out a Chinese moon gate that seemed to give onto nothing. Fir trees of a particularly old and twisted appearance were scattered about and the grass grew long with only a single worn path through it. It was darkest night and no stars were visible overhead. She watched as Inuyasha looked about him carefully but he offered no comment as Sesshoumaru led the way up the steps to the main entrance.

Kagome wondered at the dreary appearance of the place and followed slowly behind. Curls of mist wandered between the trees and she fancied she could make out the sounds of waves breaking against rocks in the distance. The sound was oddly muffled though, and made her think more of the noise of the ocean heard in seashells than actual waves. The torches burned with a clear flame that gave off no smoke and no heat that she could feel when she passed under them. She was obscurely relieved to note that their shadows on the floor were the usual ones.

Sesshoumaru was waiting for them in the main hall; a stylish and impassive presence that fit oddly well with his grim surroundings. His face continued to be remote and the only movement observable was the glitter of his golden eyes.

"She's in there." Sesshoumaru's abrupt speech startled Kagome and she jumped. Her elbow was in close contact with Inuyasha and she felt an equal involuntary flinch from him before he led her to a shoji screen depicting waves braking on a beach. Sesshoumaru did not stir from where he stood and did not follow them but studied the walls about him as if he had never seen them before.

Inuyasha looked back at his brother and concealed a sigh as he slid the screen open and stepped onto the thick tatami mats of the room. There was a wooden arras before them with hangings in heavily-embroidered silk which obscured the view of the rest of the room and the two made their way around it in silence.

Beyond it a pair of standing lamps cast their light on a figure lying on a futon under a thick quilt, dark hairfanning out over the white cotton of the cloth. Kagome gave a faint gasp and knelt down to peer into the figure's face. So here, finally, was Rin.

Rin lay as if she were sleeping on her side; one hand tucked under a cheek and the other stretched out before her and slightly curved as if holding something. Or as if she had been holding hands with someone as she dropped off. If Kagome had met her on the street she would not have recognized her. For Rin was now a young woman of about twenty and little trace of the pretty child Kagome had seen once or twice remained.

There was no life support equipment in the room, and no feeding tubes. Kagome supposed she was supported by the preservative power of Sesshoumaru's house. But why was she here? Looking at Rin now made her understand Inuyasha's apparent dislike of what his brother had done. Was Sesshoumaru just keeping her here like an object? Unchanged and unchanging did he come here sometimes to look at her?

Kagome rather thought he did; that his whole life had become derailed and concentrated on this one object of regret. It was all so very sad, and Rin had grown up to be so very beautiful. Kagome blinked at the girl lying before her and felt tears welling up. The drops of salty water blurred her vision for a moment and made the face before her waver and shift as if in normal sleep. The moist pink lips parted and the veriest wisp of black smoke came out and dissipated immediately in the air.

Kagome rubbed her eyes and leaned forward, staring in disbelief at what she had seen. There it was again! In a sudden lunge, Kagome grabbed at the other girl's shoulder and started shaking it as Inuyasha gave a startled shout: "Kagome! What are you doing?"

The arras went over in a crash as Sesshoumaru burst into the room and sent one of the lamps flying. He found Kagome apparently assaulting the unresponsive sleeper as Inuyasha batted ineffectually at her hands. "Leave me alone! I know what I'm doing!" she was yelling as she punched with doubled fists at Rin's unprotected stomach.

With a roar, Sesshoumaru was upon them. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and swung her out of the way as he lunged up to take Sesshoumaru's slash in his lifted arm. He had no idea what crazy thing Kagome had been doing but this was Sesshoumaru's home turf and there would be no getting out of there without his help. He was just casting his eyes about to size up the situation when they widened at what they saw and he lifted an already bloodied arm to point. "Rin!"

This was too much, Sesshoumaru turned to look before he settled down to the business of killing his brother to see Rin sitting up in bed and gasping for breath. In a flash, he was on his knees before her and supporting her by her upper arms. With a couple of loudly indrawn breaths Rin sighed and dropped her forehead against Sesshoumaru's shoulder.

Forgetting everything, Sesshoumaru stared down at the girl leaning against him, "Rin…"

Rubbing her face with one hand Rin spoke in a muffled voice; "I must have had the wind knocked out of me. What an awful feeling. I'm sorry, Sesshoumaru-Sama…" She lifted her head and met the lambent, wondering look in the golden eyes so close to her own. She had seen that look once before, so very long ago. "Sesshoumaru-Sama?"

"Rin." He said softly and smiled.

Inuyasha looked on in disgust. Sesshoumaru hadn't been sparingwith the poison and he was feeling a little sick along with the arm hurting like hell. "Well good. That's just fucking great. Can we go home now?"

Kagome laced her fingers with his and just beamed.

:::00o00:::

Oh, the waff! The waff! I need to clear my mouth out, somebody get me a beer.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Inuyasha felt Kagome's hand squeezing his and glanced down at her. She was staring at the transfixed couple as if, she too, had been struck to stone. He fought a wave of dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him and sternly refocused on the room.

Sesshoumaru was just sitting on the futon holding Rin's shoulders. The young woman was tangled in a welter of white quilts and equally white robes. The only color offered was that of her long hair; a dark counterpoint to the whiteness that surrounded her. She gazed up into Sesshoumaru's face and reached a hesitant hand to his cheek, "It was more than that wasn't it? Have I been ill?"

Sesshoumaru didn't answer directly but dropped his head to look down and away from her, "You'll find you've lost some time."

Rin gasped slightly in reply and brought a hand up to her mouth, "So, my dreams. There _was_ an attack."

Kagome loosened her fingers from Inuyasha's and stepped forward, "Rin-Chan?" She asked tentatively, "You remember? About the gas attack?"

Sesshoumaru gave an impatient look over his shoulder and sat back on his heels, leaving the way clear.

Rin looked confused and stared back at Kagome, "Gas attack? Was that it? First I couldn't breathe and then Jaken…" Her hand went up to her throat and massaged there for a moment before patting across her eyes in an oddly searching movement. "I couldn't see," she said firmly. "And Jaken came to protect me and said he was going to use the staff. And, and then," she shook her head, brows contracted in frustration. "I'm sorry; I don't think I can remember."

Kagome raised a hand slightly, ignoring Sesshoumaru's faint rumble of a growl. "Rin-Chan, I'm sorry too." She took a deep breath. "Please, try to rest, but it's important that you also try to remember. I think you may have been under a spell until now. The group that perpetrated the saran gas attacks claimed to have spiritual powers. I could perceive the trace of poisonous jaki as you breathed."

Kagome blushed and started twisting the ends of her hair together, "That's why you woke up to find the wind knocked out of you. I thought it was the best way to purify you since I couldn't see any other evil influence. Sorry about that." Rin rubbed at her diaphragm and nodded.

"I was once trapped by a spell and couldn't control my own actions." Kagome continued, "It seemed to me to be something like that. But I could hear a voice ordering me to do things and all you were doing was sleeping without waking up." She hesitated a moment, trying to bring herself up to speed as she settled down to a seated position with her legs tucked under her and dropped her hands in her lap. "Do you need to sleep now?"

"Only a little," Rin smiled, leaning on one elbow, her dark hair swirling about her. Her eyes were bright and sharp, despite the languid pose. "Aren't you…Shouldn't I know you?" She turned her head slightly towards Sesshoumaru and caught sight of Inuyasha beyond him. She sat up as if electrified. "You're that miko! The one beloved by that Inuyasha person!" Inuyasha gave an affronted cough in the background and Kagome frowned at him.

"But you're younger than me now." Rin's face pinked and she seemed almost ready to laugh. "I mean, it's been so many years since I last saw you. Ever since I first came to this time with Sesshoumaru-Sama I would see all the school girls in outfits like the one you used to wear and wonder where you were. I was always looking out for you in crowds of school girls but you were never there."

Rin's hand went back up to rub the heel of her palm across her cheek in an unguarded, childlike, gesture, "Sorry, I always talk too much. But, time keeps slipping about me, and now Sesshoumaru-Sama says I have lost more time. Have I been trapped asleep for long? How long? It's all so very confusing." A lone tear trickled down her cheek and Kagome's eyes stung in sympathy.

"That it is enough, Rin. You are to rest" Sesshoumaru broke in, sounding like a parent chiding a little girl.

Rin shook her head, "No, I feel like I have rested enough, Sesshoumaru-Sama. There are too many things I want to know." She looked around herself, taking in the room around her for the first time. Her eyes traveled from the ancient, dark, spider web-hung rafters to the walls of the villa with their ornate gilt paneling to the wreckage of the collapsed arras and the stain of the spilt lamp spreading across the floor. "Where is this gloomy place?" Her voice echoed in the empty chambers, coming back only to their silence.

When no one else said anything, Sesshoumaru stepped in to answer, "It is my own, personal, house Rin." He too, looked up around the rafters and Kagome could see a trace of astonishment on his normally impassive face: it seemed the sorry condition of the place was a surprise to him, also.

Kagome sighed and shifted uncomfortably, looking behind her to catch Inuyasha's eye in the barely-lit gloom. The hanyou's expression was strained and he was cradling his left arm against his side, but he returned her glance and stepped forward a pace, "Sesshoumaru, we should leave; I don't think your house kamis like me here very much and I don't like it in this place either. Just show me the door."

Sesshoumaru turned cold eyes upon his brother and made an abrupt gesture of one, elegant, hand. Kagome could feel a movement in the youki about her and stood to go to Inuyasha's side. Rin started to get up too but Sesshoumaru prevented that by the simple expedient of catching her wrist and pulling her back down to the futon again.

She looked at him, startled, "Oh, but I haven't thanked them yet."

"Consider them thanked: they can leave."

Rin was looking down at Sesshoumaru's large hand clasping her wrist, "Sesshoumaru-Sama?"

Sesshoumaru was looking down at his hand on her wrist too, "Rin, we need to talk."

Inuyasha was quietly but firmly propelling Kagome toward the door as she craned her neck to look back at the seated couple. She caught a glimpse of Sesshoumaru lifting Rin's hand in his as she was whisked firmly out of the room and into the entry hall.

She dug in her heels, "Hold on just a sec; I think he's going to…"

"Kagome, we are leaving," Inuyasha interrupted quite loudly, "now." With that, he marched her down the hall at double speed and burst precipitously out into the torch-lit courtyard with its mist and twisted trees. Kagome paid no attention to the swirling mist as she tried to make Inuyasha stop.

"But you were always just fine with watching Sango and Miroku!"

"I ain't worried about Miroku's household kami am I? Gods, you are such a nosy wench!"

Kagome looked about her at the mention of the kami and suddenly realized the threatening aspect of their surroundings. The trees in the courtyard loomed and she could barely see through the chill mist. The house behind them was dark. "Well, that's not very nice! And after we helped him too!" A cold wind pressed around them both as torches on either side of the moon gate suddenly sprang into life. "Why, I have a good mind to…" The rest of her comment was lost as Inuyasha swept her up in his arms and sped for the gate.

:::0:::

The instant they passed through it they were in the blinding sunlight of an autumn afternoon on Sesshoumaru's private balcony. Inuyasha dumped Kagome onto her own two feet abruptly and continued his path into the bedroom.

"We're leaving, come on."

He scarcely paused at the locked bedroom door but gave its handle a yank that snapped the bolt and splintered part of the doorframe. He hauled Kagome forward by one wrist and just barely stopped in time to avoid stepping on Jaken, who was still sitting in the hallway.

"What the hell are you doing there?" He snarled with an ugly glint in his eye at the cringing toad daemon.

"I hoped to hear some news," Jaken explained, scrambling to his feet.

"She's fine, and she supports your version of the story. They're back there talking right now so you might as well make yourself comfortable."

"I will stand guard over my lord's door."

Inuyasha looked about him at the innocuous apartment hallway and shrugged, "Suit yourself. C'mon, Kagome."

Kagome hung back a little bit and smiled at the toad daemon, "It'll be fine. You'll see; Rin-Chan won't let him stay angry at you."

Jaken gave her an anxious look out of his pop eyes and straightened his back. Kagome gave a little wave which he didn't respond to and headed down the hallway to where Inuyasha was waiting with barely concealed impatience.

"Do you think he's really going to stand there all day?" Kagome inquired as they stepped into the apartment building's corridor.

"Do you think I give a shit?" Inuyasha led the way to the elevators and stood there, staring at them.

"Inuyasha."

"What?"

"You need to push the down button to call the elevator."

"Huh?"

She silently pointed.

"Oh." He followed suit and stabbed his clawed finger at the button.

"Inuyasha," she said as the doors opened up, "ears."

He frowned and reshuffled his appearance half-heartedly as she pressed the lobby button and they headed down. She studied him out of the corner of her eye, noting his withdrawn stance. He was holding his arm closely to his side but it had stopped bleeding quite some time ago and merely seemed to be sporting a long scratch. She reminded herself to get some water and wash the streaks of blood off so she could get a good look at it but he seemed so impatient to go that she decided not to push it.

She glanced up at his face again and found she rather approved of his rather bull-headed determination to retain his white hair. Whose business was it anyway? She led the way out into the lobby, which was framed off with a lot of sawhorses and yellow tape as repairs were being carried on and stopped at the front desk.

The desk attendants were busy and she finally slapped her hand down on the bell to catch their attention. "Do you have anywhere I can get some water and paper towels? My friend here needs them."

One desk attendant raised bored eyes to where Inuyasha was standing and suddenly stiffened, "Yes, of course, instantly." He scurried off as Kagome waited in some puzzled amusement as a carafe of ice water, a stack of paper towels, a cup and a brochure to the Roppangi Hills shopping area were all produced in rapid order. "Will there be anything else, Sama? Shall I call a cab?" His eyes remained glued on Inuyasha.

Kagome wryly considered the contents of her pockets and refused; they would take the subway. She led an unresisting Inuyasha over to the side and started to blot at his arm with a damp paper towel when Inuyasha hissed and snatched it from her.

"Cut that out, it's fine." He dabbed at the red slash briefly and smeared the blood streaks about a bit before dropping the crumpled wad of bloody paper to the floor. "Where's the fucking subway stop?"

"It's right out there, just a block away. Oh, you're so messy." She gathered up the dropped towels and wadded them into the cup, looking unsuccessfully for a trash receptacle on the way out. Outside he reached to take her hand and found her holding the cup instead. With a grunt he tweaked it from her fingers and spun, lobbing the cup high overhead. She didn't really hear it land but she was willing to bet it was on a certain balcony on the fourteenth floor.

The subway stop was above ground and they were standing in a car crowded with afternoon commuters. Kagome knew the crowding would clear a bit as they approached the neighborhood of the shrine and hoped for a seat then. Inuyasha was worrying her. She was used to his brooding silences and knew he didn't like crowds but there seemed to be an undercurrent there. Raising her voice a bit she tried to strike up a conversation, "So, do you think Sesshoumaru will forgive Jaken?"

"Keh."

"'Keh,' what?"

Inuyasha eased his stance a bit, moving his shoulder to provide Kagome with somewhere to lean against the swaying of the train as it moved into a turn. "Keh, nothing. Of course he'll forgive him. Other than Rin he's all that bastard's got."

"What about the others who work for him?"

"Keh. They don't count; they never did. Not so long as Sesshoumaru has Jaken as his personal punching bag. Are we there yet?"

"No, remember, we have to cross the river. It'll be a while yet."

Inuyasha silently cradled his arm to his chest and rested his head for a brief moment against the pole next to him. The pole vibrated with the movement of the train and felt a little greasy, but it was cool against his face.

"Inuyasha? Are you alright? Why can't you let me see that arm?" The sound of her voice may have been comforting, and the concerned expression of her face sweet. But Inuyasha wasn't fooled; she wanted to see that arm. And if she saw the arm she would squeeze it and Inuyasha, who, if nothing else, was always brutally honest with himself, rather thought he would scream. His eyes slid shut.

Kagome's voice invaded the warm buzz in his ears "You are _NOT_ going to faint on me in public."

He stiffened, sliding back up the pole, of course not. He could hear some movement behind him and Kagome's voice saying, "I'm so sorry, but my friend here is ill, I think he needs this seat." There was the movement of polite shuffling and reassurances of 'no difficulty' and 'please feel free' and the pull of an insistent little hand at the back of his belt as he was pulled down onto a smelly, cushioned, surface. Then Kagome's voice again at his ear, "That asshole poisoned you, didn't he. Look, Inuyasha, you've got to pay attention to me, you've got to keep your mind on human ears."

Human ears. Yeah, he could do that. Within an instant, there was a strong attempt at a pinch on his side. Or, at least, Kagome was digging her nails into him pretty hard. "Not your hair, stupid, ears!" she hissed, pinching frantically. He grunted in response but stilled the shift.

Kagome spoke again, "You're still with me, right?" She was pressed against his side, holding him against the metal plate at the end of the seats by the doors. The train had come to a stop and people were leaving the carriage. Several of them sent her curious looks but most kept their eyes and their concentration on their own business of making it off of the carriage with their persons and possessions intact.

His face was pale under its tan and a fine line was drawn between his arched brows. Normally, they could scowl so! But now, he just didn't seem to have the energy. Kagome chewed on her lip and wondered what to do. If only they could've taken a cab. She repeated that last thought out loud.

"What's a cab?" Inuyasha's voice was thready.

"Something we don't have money for; a way to get straight to the shrine in a car instead of the subway."

He snorted a bit and gave a frowning laugh. "Stupid girl; Sesshoumaru shoved all my money back, it's in my pocket."

She was patting down his pockets in a moment. "Why didn't you say so?"

"Why didn't you ask me? I can't read your mind, Bitch." His eyes were open now and he was looking at her with a trace of challenge in his glance.

She felt encouraged by his stronger tone but still objected, "I'm not a bitch, Inuyasha; I'm doing the best I can."

"Sure you are." He closed his eyes again.

"Well, I am. Why are you fighting with me?"

"That's what I do with friends. And that's all I am to you; a friend."

Kagome's jaw dropped open and she waggled it, 'of all the…' "Man, you are just so fucked up."

He smiled faintly, "Kagome swearing. Sweet."

She stared at him, rocking with the sway of the carriage. "I take it your feeling a little better?" she asked acidly.

His eyes slid open and he stared out at the passing landscape visible through the window on the opposite side of the carriage. "A little. That bastard Sesshoumaru must be slipping." He licked his lips, "I'm thirsty, is there any water?"

She sighed, thinking of the carafe of ice water left behind in Roppangi Hills, "No, we'll be home soon. I'm sorry."

"I'll live," he replied and eased his hand down by his side to take her fingers secretly between them. "Just tell me when we get there."

They rode the rest of the way in silence, Kagome barely taking her eyes off him as he dozed. She nudged him awake when they reached the stop near the shrine and they made their way slowly up the couple of blocks to the end of her street.

The street was nearly blocked with cars and delivery trucks. Kagome read the signs as they walked slowly by, two of them seemed to be repair trucks and one she recognized as the catering van, judging by the name on its side. Oh, yeah, the wedding. She felt a nervous tightening in her throat.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you mean by saying that I only think of you as a friend?"

He was silent for a moment and started up the shrine steps. The ticket office was closed, again. "What do you think I mean?"

She felt momentarily like snapping at him, but he was walking so slowly and seemed so dispirited. Which could have been the effects of the poison, of course she thought defensively. Why did he always manage to make her feel so guilty? She always badmouthed him to her friends with good reason. Why couldn't things stay under her control like that? Why couldn't he be the only one who was a jerk?

He had stopped partway up the steps and was waiting for her. "When you talk about me to anyone in public, I'm always just your friend."

"Well, that's in public. You know that's not how I feel. What am I supposed to call you?"

"How about your life mate? Or husband if you prefer; I am marrying you, you know."

She gulped and looked up at him.

He cocked his head a little bit and looked down at her, "You could call me your lover, I suppose, I wouldn't object." He put his hand out and she was drawn up the steps to him as if by some sort of magnetic force.

So it was that they were hand in hand as they reached the top of the steps. It made a nice picture for the crowd.

:::0o0:::

Reviews are so nice


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Inuyasha and Kagome had arrived at the top of the shrine steps to view a swirl of activity in the forecourt. There were an unusually large number of shrine goers there; washing their hands and rinsing their mouths at the dragon fountain before lining up to go up to the haiden and ring the bell.

Instead of being open at the foot of the steps, and taking no advantage of the potential impulse customers, the shrine store had set up a small table to one side of the forecourt that was loaded with assorted votive plaques and lucky charms. The clerks seemed to be doing a brisk business with the cash box and looking quite harassed as they practically grabbed omikuji sticks out of patron's hands and slapped back fortunes and change.

Kagome spotted the portly bulk of Iaosei-San, the ubiquitous shrine commissioner and source of the cashier's harried attitude. He was placing a few more cardboard boxes of Shikon-no-Tama key chains within easy reach. She frowned; Iaosei-San was always in the thick of things and could be relied on to ruffle feathers and just be generally bad for business. Sure enough, she could see him officiously reproving one of the attendants for taking an item from display rack to sell instead of handing out a previously boxed one. Both the attendant and the customer were looking contrite and shuffling their feet by the time he was done.

Kagome sniffed in irritation at the man and scanned the milling crowd to find Jijii-Chan standing with a small knot of men before the entrance to the haiden, giving brisk snaps to his tamagushi wand with its fluttering paper strips. People were crowding near, waiting to enter but a small scaffolding had been erected across the front of the haiden and the plaited rope of rice straw with its twisted paper streamers was in the process of being lowered. By craning her neck, she could see a couple of men obviously waiting with the new one carefully held between them. A small bonfire had been lit to one side and one of the oldest shrine members stood near it, shooing Souta and a group of his friends away.

Kagome tugged Inuyasha in that direction before she released his hand and made her way over to Souta's side through the press of people, "Souta, where's Mama?" She had to raise her voice to be heard over the hubbub. Souta turned reluctantly but gave a welcoming grin when he saw her.

"Kagome, you're back, but where's Inu-no-nii-Chan?"

Kagome blinked and looked around, but the hanyou was nowhere in sight. "He must have snuck off, he wasn't feeling well." Covering her concern, Kagome turned back to Souta, "I want to talk to Mama. Where is she?"

Souta looked solemn and pulled a long face. "Looking for you Ne-chan, and getting very embarrassed. There is a lady here about the wedding and Mama needs you here too. Something about your dress." There was a ragged cheer behind him as the old shimenawa garland was fed into the flames and Souta turned quickly to get a look at it and cheer with his friends but Kagome pulled at the back of his shirt and dragged him, protesting, out of the crowd of onlookers.

"Oh, Souta, it's not like you haven't seen that a hundred times before. If that lady is here about my wedding kimono then I'm going to need help getting it down from the top of Mama's closet. You know how heavy it was when we put it away."

"Yeah, but, Inu…"

"Inuyasha doesn't feel good and needs to rest," she interrupted, "his arm is hurt and Sesshoumaru injected him with poison."

Souta stopped dead in his tracks, causing her to look back at him, "Why would he do a rotten thing like that?"

"Like what?" She demanded, "It's not like it's anything new and it wasn't even really on purpose," she added in response to Souta's stare. "He was aiming at me."

"Well, is Inuyasha going to be all right? It seems so weird that Inuyasha's big brother would go through all that trouble contacting Inu-no-nii-Chan and then try to poison you."

"Of course Inuyasha's going to be all right, he just needs to get some extra sleep and stay away from using that arm for a wile. It's just that Sesshoumaru was a little upset, that's all. He always seems to lash out like that. But now the kimono lady is here to help me learn how to manage the wedding kimono and I need someone to help me get it down so you're it. Besides, if you help me with handling the dress this afternoon I'll get Inuyasha to help you with your math homework," she added craftily.

Souta stopped resisting and started moving with her. "Finally admitting he's better at math than you? Does he know that?"

Kagome frowned at him and shook her head. "He's just going to have to find out when I ask him to help you. It's not like I'm not good at anything. I can do lots of things that he can't."

"Oh, yeah? Name one."

Fortunately, they had made their way through the back shrine gate and to their house and Kagome was much too busy getting inside to present herself to her mother and the kimono lady to answer.

Higurashi-San greeted her daughter with obvious relief, "Kagome, there you are! All your other business taken care of?"

Kagome could see a middle aged woman looking inquisitively at her beyond her mother's shoulder and gave a quick, social smile as she answered, "Rin's fine now, and Houjou-Kun and Ryosei-Chan seem to have gone off with Jukuryo-Sensei. Mama, this is..."

"I am your dresser," the kimono lady said. She had been hired from the local beauty parlor where she held a contract and was not so sure she should have taken this commission. True, the job as outlined was on unusually easy terms and the Shinto ceremony only was to be observed but the bride was terribly young; not yet out of her teens. "Higurashi-San, does Kagome-Chan have the correct hedajuban? I understand that this wedding kimono is an heirloom from the groom's family. The undergarments may need adjustment."

Higurashi-San hurried to reassure her as Kagome wondered why she wasn't questioned herself. Kagome was right to wonder a bit and would have been annoyed had she only known the kimono lady's thoughts as she studied her client.

The dresser had to admit to herself that Kagome looked innocent enough and had excellent manners with a graceful way of tilting her chin up, never acknowledging her slender lack of inches. But there was something very improper about this hurried early wedding. She studied Kagome for any tell-tale signs of pregnancy but was unable to draw any conclusions. 'Have to instruct her to keep her chin and eyes modestly down ,' the kimono lady noted mentally. Aloud she said, "Your Mother asked me here before the wedding to teach you how to wear your kimono and act decorously." She paused and smiled in a professional manner, "Your mother also tells me that the kimono you will wear is of a very ancient design and may create difficulty in management so, we will see it and try it on tonight."

Kagome's mind spun back to the Heian-era Itsuitsu-ginu waiting for her and could only agree, "Yes, it seems very difficult, now that I think of it. Do you want me to have it brought down to the living room?"

"Of course we can just look at it here in your living room. Just wear the undergarments you expect to wear for the wedding and we'll have it sorted out. I'll know better how to press it if it's been in storage once I've seen it. I have brought a portable rack to hang it on until the wedding and I'm sure you'll know not to touch it and keep it covered once it's hung." Her voice was calm and self assured, with the slightly condescending tone that is often of comfort to uncertain customers.

Kagome did not find it a comfort and felt vaguely like she was being patronized but went up the stairs with Souta in tow obediently enough. Souta insisted he could manage the weight of the kimono himself and went to her room to change into her hedajuban and a yukata.

Popping into her room she wasn't overly surprised to find Inuyasha already there on her bed. He was lying on his side with his injured arm thrown up above his head. He seemed to be asleep and didn't stir as she pulled off her shirt and started wriggling out of her pants. She turned to look at the built-in cupboard above her bed, her hedajuban was stored in there along with her out-of-season clothes. There was no way to get to it without leaning across the bed and disturbing the sleeper.

She glanced at his sleeping face, the sweet one that only she ever got to see, her private Inuyasha. Maybe, if she moved very slowly, she eased up to the side of the bed and leaned carefully across it to reach the latch of the cupboard.

Unseen, below her, Inuyasha let his eyes shift open just a fraction, lashes shadowing the glistening gold of his iris. The corner of his mouth that was against the pillow curved up at the view that was being presented before his nose. He had never noticed the little pink bow on the front of her panties before. He watched her stomach muscles tense as popped the cupboard softly open and started to feel around on the shelf inside.

He was about to pounce, injured arm or no, when a muffled thump sounded from the other side of the wall and brought Kagome back upright.

"Souta, are you O.K.?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, this is just awkward."

"Well, just hang on a minute, I'll help you," she swiftly started wrapping the hedajuban about herself and noticed the scowling hanyou staring at her. "Oh, sorry, Inuyasha. I'm going to be doing kimono fitting so you stay up here O.K.?"

The hanyou snarled a silent reply as he watched her curves being covered up in some kind of garment that seemed to be padded in order to conceal her shape by widening her waist and flattening her bust. It made her look a bit sausage-like. What kind of demented outfit was that? Kagome obliviously pulled an old cotton yukata out of her closet and fastened that around her too.

"Inuyasha? Are you listening?"

"Yeah, whatever," he sighed disgustedly. "You're going to stay at the shrine, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't go anywhere in an old thing like this."

He rolled an eyeball at her standing there, completely concealed in layers of fabric from prying eyes. 'Take it off,' was what he wanted to say. Of course she wasn't going anywhere in public; she wasn't nearly naked enough. "Fine, just so long as you stay put. I'm going to sleep now." And with that he rolled so he was facing completely away from her and settled down with an irritable grunt.

She shrugged at his ill temper and went out to help the struggling Souta as he labored with the package in the hallway.

Downstairs the kimono lady sat alone in the living room, hands folded patiently, and silently ticked up the hourly charges by the minute while she was waiting; it always made her feel calmer and more willing to wait. At twenty minutes, however, she was ready to follow the family up the stairs and inquire politely if she could possibly help. The girl was so young, could she actually have taken the dress out of the box and scattered the pieces? The idea of this child-bride playing with her wedding kimono was distressing.

She was just rising to follow up on that thought and was stopped by approaching voices, "Finally."

"Mou, Souta, watch your step; you'll get it all dirty."

"Ne-chan, I'm doing the best I can. You want to carry it?"

"Souta, I just mean don't drop it. It can't get dirty!"

"It's heavy!"

"Stop, stop! You're stepping on a string, lift up…there, now, go down."

"I can't see, Kagome."

"Well, if you would step more carefully…"

The kimono lady emerged from the living room and watched as a tottering bundle of white made its way down the stairs in the arms of someone with jean clad legs and the girl, Kagome, circling about it anxiously. She walked up to the foot of the stairs and extended her arms to receive the package. With a trifle more maneuvering it was passed down to her and she nearly sank under the load. It had to be twenty pounds at the least.

Kagome gave vent to a sigh of relief as she saw the undoubtedly competent dresser take on the load of the kimono and bounced down the stairs in its wake. They arrived in the living room to the dresser's relief and swept aside Jijii-Chan's newspapers from the low table top. The dresser dropped to her knees with a plump and rested the muslin-wrapped bundle on the table before her. The thing had been wrapped in a flat sheet and wound about with loops of twine tied over pieces of cardboard and weighed more than twenty pounds. It was a pretty odd looking bundle for a wedding dress and the dresser frowned portentously as she set about untying the carefully-wound knot.

Souta and Kagome stood by ready to help because they knew what was coming. Making up the bundle after Inuyasha had spread it out on the table for them to see it the first time had taken a couple of hours and had caused their mother to go and lie down and refuse to make dinner. Usually, that only happened when she was sick.

The dresser watched somewhat dubiously as the bundle seemed to expand after the ties were released and carefully folded the white sheet back to cover the table. There was some blue tissue paper after that and then, and then- there was fabric the like to which she had never seen. It seemed to be a folded, very old style kimono right enough; but, the thing had been packed layered in situ, as if it was of many components and the first layer seemed to be the purest white silk gauze. She lifted it up and kept her face perfectly still as the gauze unfolded to reveal itself to be a wide loose jacket with brocaded patterns of sea waves and trotting animal figures.

"This is a wedding kimono?" she inquired, somewhat tonelessly as she carefully laid aside that piece and bent to observe the subtle graduations of color and stiffness of fabric of the various robes.

"Yes, it is from my husband's family." The young girl answered with her hands behind her back but with a faint defiance to be seen in the lift of her chin. The dresser turned, reassessing her: she had thought that she was dealing with a shrine family dealing with an obstinate girl that was having to be married off in a hurry but she was rapidly having to change her opinion. That wedding dress was a medieval robe worthy of the nobility and, well, this thing was over her head. True, she had seen some demonstrations of medieval robes at some seminars, but…She thought hard a minute. The generous commission was very hard to even consider giving up: wait, while she had taken her traing there had been an elderly instructress who was from a kabuki family. Maybe she… the decision taken she turned back to this puzzling young woman and said, "I'm sorry, I must make some phone calls. We may have to get someone in to consult."

Kagome nodded in agreement and listened as the woman talked excitedly over her cell phone and, within a few minutes was helping the kimono lady to refasten the itsuitsuginu's wrappings and shuffling it out between them to the woman's car, all thoughts of having promised Inuyasha to stay home gone from her head.

:0:

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-I don't read Viz.-


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

It was after five when Inuyasha awoke again. The official part of the shrine festival was over and, while he could hear the voices of visitors on the grounds and smell the ashes of the bonfire, the music had stopped. He rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling. It had been weird, lying on Kagome's bed listening to the steady thump of the shrine drum. Not all that different from the drumming he had heard from villages all his life and comforting in its way. He wondered how much longer Kagome would be about that dress, and about the prospects of a snack.

He sat up, refusing to acknowledge the stinging ache from his healing arm. Fuck Sesshoumaru anyway, what if he hadn't interposed himself between his brother's claws and Kagome's tender arms? "The claws wouldn't have connected, that's what. And I would never have been allowed to forget that he pulled back to save my mate." Inuyasha said aloud to the empty room and snorted. The endless game of one-upmanship he had played with his brother for his entire life ran by its own rules, but it was getting old.

His stomach growled and Inuyasha grimaced: healing always took it out of him. By the angle of the light he could see that some time had passed while he rested and he was due for a snack. Kagome had made it crystal clear that he was not to just go hunting in this time although there was plenty of surprisingly easy to catch food just sitting around waiting to be picked up. Those nice, fat carp a few houses down for instance…He stomach made another whining complaint that he echoed softly. In his mind's eye he could envision salt-roasted fish sputtering over the campfire with Miroku deftly reaching forward at just the right instant to turn them. Kagome would be near him, setting up filled buns to steam over a pot of boiling water as Sango quietly whetted her blade. Shippou could be, well Shippou could be cleaning up the offal or something. It's not like the kitsune ever caught any of the food anyway, except for that one rabbit that had nearly beaten him up.

Inuyasha's mouth crooked at the memory of the kitsune's reaction when the apparently dead rabbit in his snare turned out to be not so dead after all. The kid's distressed squawks had been very funny but the rabbit was already pretty badly injured and the only right thing to do had been to put it swiftly out of its misery and dress the carcass in short order. Shippou had gotten a lot of undeserved compliments on his hunting prowess but Kagome hadn't really been fooled and had sat extra close to him that night, her thigh brushing against his forearm every time she moved. Yes, that had been a good meal.

Definitely hungry now, Inuyasha took the quick route out of Kagome's window to leave the house. A thorough sniff of the surrounding air promptly gave him a head full of smoke and incense along with the mixed human and artificial smells given off by the crowd of worshippers still at the shrine. No chance there of finding Kagome in that press of people unless she was upset or hurt. Determining she was neither so far as he could tell he made a bee-line to the back door of the kitchen and the refrigerator. He was shifting mysterious packets around on the shelves in search of something he recognized when Higurashi-San came in.

"Where's Kagome?" he asked as she gently shooed him aside and started drawing out appropriate things for him to eat.

"Well, she's with you isn't she?" she asked. "The car that brought the dresser here is gone."

"No, and she's not in the house. I didn't want to check the shrine grounds; there are still too many people around and I was hungry and… What's this?" Inuyasha interrupted himself as Higurashi-San handed him a plastic package of _Porky Pork _and a frosty cold can of _Salamatoma_.

"Food," she said succinctly, and watched as he deftly sliced the bag open with a clawed finger tip and popped the top of the can without using the tab. He up-ended the bag into his mouth and took a healthy swig of his drink. His face was a bit of a study as he chewed but he made no comment on the flavor. "So, Kagome said nothing to you about leaving? I'm beginning to think she may have left with the kimono lady after all. I haven't seen her all afternoon."

Inuyasha stopped in the act of taking another messy mouthful of chips and looked at her, a dried and salted pork chip hanging out of his mouth. "Yurr…" he managed before realizing that the slightly chewy strips of pork crackling were in the way. He made a slight head gesture to the side preparatory to spitting out the mouthful of chips but found himself facing Higurashi-San. She had swiftly leaned over to continue being face to face with him and was now in the line of fire. Her expression caused him to pull back and wash things down with another swig of the peculiar drink instead.

"Inuyasha, I would appreciate it if you would try to chew with your mouth closed. Manners will be very important during the wedding ceremony and at the reception afterwards and I will be presenting my fine son-in-law to my relatives. Your mother also must be watching you from the heavens. Both you and Kagome will be focus of attention and there's going to be food served. Do you think you could do that?" She smiled at his bug eyed stare, "I mean could you follow a few rules? You know; chew with your mouth closed, don't leave your chopsticks standing up in the bowl and wait for the food to be served to you."

He paused in the act of raising the can to his mouth again and instead put the can down with a careful precision on the counter, "You think I can't act right, don't you?" His voice was quiet but his clawed fingers twitched and he spilled a bit of the tomato juice he was drinking. The red flowed down the side of the can across his fingers. All he could do was stare at it stupidly as if he saw something different than the flow of salt water and vegetable matter.

"No, it's not that, but…"

He shook his head hard enough to make his ears flap and tightened them to the sides of his skull as he changed the subject to one he could handle, "Where would this kimono lady have taken Kagome?"

"Why, to someone who knows about that sort of kimono. I did warn the kimono lady that the style was old but I doubt she took me very seriously. It must have been a shock." Higurashi-San turned away and started pulling more things out preparatory to starting dinner as she rattled on, "I'm sure Kagome is alright, Inuyasha-Kun. The reason why I hired this lady was her reputation for thoroughness and honesty. When Asuki-San's daughter Meri got married last Spring and wanted a real, American-style wedding with an American-style gown she contacted a person she knew in the states to get all the information and the right place in America to order the gown from. Very tough to find Meri's size of course but the Priscilla company did have some that could be altered to fit."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes with boredom and frustration, "So, where would they know how to put on that kimono?" He was beginning to regret ever coming up with the thing. Or even having let this wedding-ceremony business even be started. They had been fine as they were before.

Higurashi-San blinked and frowned, considering his question. "In a museum or, maybe a kabuki theater?" She hazarded, "There's the National Theater in the east end of the Ginza by the palace and another big old thing in the west end, but.." She looked up and found herself speaking to empty space. Inuyasha had gone.

… o …

Kagome sat with the bulk of the robes in her lap and tried to see past them out the window of the car. For some reason she had thought they were just heading down the street to the local beauty shop to meet someone, not taking a trip across town. She batted at the top folds of clothing and peered over them; they were pulling up to what Kagome recognized as the massive ferro-concrete façade of the Kabuki-za theater where she had gone for some school field trips but, instead of going past to the parking lot, they took a sharp turn and eased their way down a narrow driveway that was set into the building itself. The kimono lady muttered under her breath nervously as she eased the car into a space between a dumpster and an ornate palanquin complete with huge paper flowers and fluttering streamers.

"Um, is this the right place?" Kagome ventured as she struggled with the bundle of cloth to open the car door.

"Yes, yes, I'm quite sure. My former teacher was most clear. Let me get that for you." In a moment she was out of the car and around to Kagome's side to open the door and reverently help steady the bundle as Kagome struggled out. There was barely room to maneuver. She then led the way across to the sidewalk to the prosaic glass door set into the wall several yards away with Kagome trailing behind and uncertainly feeling for her footing among pots of dried-up flowers with extravagantly written dedications from fan clubs and dead potted plants. The congested roar of city traffic echoed in this enclosed space and made it all the more prosaic.

Once through the door, the noise and smells were almost completely cut off and they found themselves in a typical lowered entryway of the type to be found in any of the older office buildings in Japan. It was lined with shelves for street shoes along with a separate shelf that held slippers meant to wear while inside.

Kagome was toeing off her well worn loafers while still gripping the heavy bundle of her wedding kimono when an old man appeared with a sprightly, "Good Morning!" which had her looking back over her shoulder at the afternoon sunlight filtering in behind her through the glass door.

The old man chuckled at her reaction and said, "Old theater custom. Here you go, Sama." He set a pair of slippers for her to step into while placing her discarded shoes on a shelf. As he performed this small service he glanced up at the kimono lady who had already changed her shoes and was waiting with poorly-concealed impatience. "And you are…?"

"Oshima-San, we are meeting Nakamura-San, she works here as a.."

The old man cut her off, "I know Nakamura-San but she is doing fittings with Bando today. I will have to check." He stood up from his crouching position easily and shuffled off down the hallway to a windowed counter on the right.

The kimono lady followed him quickly, saying, "I just got off the phone with her, I know she's expecting us."

Kagome followed them with hesitant curiosity. The counter fronted an office of sorts that had a long wooden board on its back wall filled with scarlet wooden pegs. Some were in the top row but most were down on the bottom. Another old man sat behind the counter and the three adults were quickly engaged in a muttered discussion.

Kagome balanced her bundle against her chest to ease her arms and took the opportunity to look around. Up above the window of the small office was a shelf holding a small shrine decorated with paper strips and offering bottles of sake, each one inscribed with a name. On the opposite side of the hallway was an open door next to a color TV monitor showing a large stage with some men positioning shoji screens on the front of what looked like a traditional house. She could faintly hear hammering echoing down the hallway and realized that she must be within earshot of the activity on the stage. She could also hear a radio through the open door beside the monitor and couldn't resist taking a look. She shuffled forward in her over-large slippers and peeked into the room but drew back to the edge of the doorframe when she saw several people quietly occupying themselves in it. One woman was carefully running basting stitches through a stiff pile of gorgeously-colored silks spread before her on the central table while a man and a woman were playing a desultory hand of cards using a corner of that same table. The radio softly played Chinese hits from forty years ago in the background next to an antiquated electric teapot. The room was a fairly large one but was made much smaller by the floor to ceiling shelves lining the walls. There was a break for one small window to the outside which held a couple of house plants desperately trying to make use of the remaining sunlight on its sill.

The female card player looked up sharply and caught sight of Kagome and her large bundle of cloth. She tossed down her cards and rose with a soft exclamation. "Ah, this must be the girl," she announced to the room at large and made her way past the packed storage shelves and the electric kettle towards Kagome and the door.

Her companion promptly reached over and exposed her abandoned hand. "I knew you were bluffing," he said sourly and reshuffled to deal out a hand of solitaire.

Kagome backed away into the hall way as the woman advanced and bumped into the kimono lady who gave an irritated exclamation, "Ah, watch what you are doing!" The kimono lady turned around and caught sight of the woman in the doorway. Immediately, she was all smiles, "Nakamura-San, there you are. I have brought the girl and the kimono as you asked. These two," she cast no friendly glance at the two elderly theater men, "were not sure you were available."

"Normally, I wouldn't be, Oshima-San. But old uncle here overheard our conversation and insisted you bring this amazing kimono for him to see forthwith. Isn't that right, Bando?" She turned with a smile and looked back through the doorway at the man still sitting in the room behind her.

"Quite right," the man responded easily and stood up from the stool he had been sitting on to reveal a slender frame topped by an ageless face upon which the deeper emotions of human existence seemed to be deeply etched.

Kagome stared at him arrested. There was something very odd about him, his movements were very sinuous and seemed to contrast oddly with his workaday appearance.

"That is heavy for you child. Let me take that."

Before she could protest (and indeed, the bundle was very heavy and weighing on her arms) Kagome found herself relieved of her burden and following the man down the hall with the woman he had been playing cards with rushing ahead of her to his side.

"Bando-Jijii, you know I should be carrying that."

"Nonsense, we'll put this down to exercise. Just get the curtain for me." With that, he ducked through a curtained doorway on the right-hand side of the hall without giving anyone the chance of lifting the curtains for him and led the way to the verge of a tatami mat room

Here he paused and passed over the bundle of cloth to his assistant while he toed off his slippers and carefully stepped onto the mats in his tabi-covered feet. He padded slowly across the room and subsided onto a cushion facing the doorway while Kagome and the kimono lady scrambled to get their slippers off before stepping on the mats and the woman carrying the wedding kimono knelt to place it on the floor before her.

As the two visitors found cushions for themselves and knelt, Nakamura-San matter-of factly stepped out of her own slippers and scooted around the package to get at the knots holding it together. Within a few moments she had the knots holding it together unwound and was off to the side wall to bring out a T-shaped wooden rack on a stand upon which she put the kimono in full display.

It took her a few minutes and Kagome had plenty of time in which to become dismayed at the sheer quantity of cloth that she was seeing placed upon the rack before her. Even Oshima-San beside her seemed a little daunted as layer after layer was built up into a tour de force of variations upon the theme of white.

Finally, Nakamura-San was finished and stepped back.

There was a moment of silence. "Is that all?" asked Bando.

Nakamura-San looked at him sharply, "All that came in the package, Bando-Jijii."

"No apron? No fan? No crown?"

Nakamura-San glanced over at her dumfounded visitors and sighed, "This is not the wedding kimono of an empress. This is the real thing. Not a kabuki costume. Jijii, are you going to help out or not?"

Bando frowned pettishly for a moment and Kagome was yet again struck by a familiar oddity to his movements; very like those of a particularly handsome snake. He caught her stare and smiled disingenuously. She also surreptitiously attempted to sit a little more erectly on her feet in the face of his perfect poise.

"We shall just have to give the young bride a fan to carry, that is all. Up, girl, let's see you walk up and introduce yourself."

Kagome looked around a little wildly at her companions but stood up from her kneeling position easily enough. (Nothing like spending years in an ancient fairy tale to perfect your handling of antique social norms. I always say.) She took a few steps and stood silent, waiting to be acknowledged.

Nakamura-San gave a brief laugh and said, "You see, Bando-Jijii? A girl with good manners." She turned to Kagome and said, "Meet my old uncle. He used to be a great mitsume, and even now he's not bad. He knows more about lady's kimonos than anyone else I know. He was here when I took your call, Oshima-San, and insisted on seeing this wonderful kimono and the girl who rates it."

Kagome was caught between cringing and curiosity. Curiosity won. "You play women's roles Sensei?" He was lightly built to be sure, but not very feminine-looking as he sat before her.

"I'm only taking old lady parts now." He responded with a noticeably youthful smile. Kagome couldn't help but smile back.

Nakamura-San gave a ripe snort. "And what about your wisteria girl last week?"

"What about it? This week I am the old lady in "The Sword Sharpener."

"Oh, give me a break! They never asked you to do that role."

"Young Kanzaburo is sick and I must take the role as the next junior actor."

"Junior actor," Nakamura sniffed, starting to deftly remove Kagome's yukata before the girl quite knew what she was about. "What about his understudy?" She grunted to herself meditatively as Oshima-San came up to Kagome's other side, ready to help.

"Too old for the part! He's 28 and his cheeks are too fat. I tell you; if that young man doesn't watch it he find himself in male parts quick as winking. Now, let's see about this this kimono, I think we'd better have the hedajuban off if we're going to have the line right. And then we'll see how the girl moves in it."

Kagome gave a little whimper as the two dressers undid her waist tapes and pulled her

hedajuban off, leaving her in a bra and panties. They all jumped nearly out of their skins as there was a resounding crash and shatter of glass and a sound of quickly-drumming feet up the hallway. They could hear a youthful voice from just outside the doorway; "Dude, I don't think you should be wearing the production wigs around like that."

There was the ugly sound of a slap and a body falling as the curtains were torn aside.

TBC :o

Maybe this would have been sooner but somebody removed my poor, innocuous, "Tajiya no Miroku" again with all the associated delays and resultant lack of inspiration. Some people should spend less time playing thought police. Grump!


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

He had very nearly gone to the wrong place.

He distinctly remembered that Kagome's mother had mentioned the National Theater and the Palace and that's what he headed for at top speed. He made his way using the tops of trains and the roofs of the taller buses as rides towards his objective as he rapidly retraced his path of the night before to the grounds of the palace. He achieved the sloping roof where Kagome and he had paused for a moment. But there he only found the rapidly fading traces of their presence twenty hours ago: even though he knew where to sniff. How was he to find her in all of this acid fug? It was like a sulfer spring; the harsh chemical odors were steadily eating away at more elusive scents.

"National Theater," Kagome's mother had said. He frowned to himself as he scanned the area for any signs of a place giving a performance. There was one long, low, building ending in a tower with pennants out front fairly near him on a road that he recognized as going through the Ginza from the palace . It didn't look very promising and he still couldn't catch Kagome's scent but it at least seemed to resemble the theaters he had seen in larger towns as he wandered in other times; they had always had those pennants.

His breath came in a faint whine as he gazed down at the busy city street. He was still tired and sore from his injury and, right at the moment, he had no idea where to look for his mate in this hugely complicated and very stinky city.

He snorted, 'as if she would be marking every tree. Straighten up, Hanyou.' Tracking her was difficult in the Sengoku Jidai but nearly impossible as conditions were now. He needed a better plan. The snapping of the pennants in the evening breeze caught his attention again and he made a couple of leaps towards the place to pause behind the opposing parapet to see what the sign said.

"Traditional Performing Arts Information Center" he sounded out after a couple of painful minutes. He thought about what the words meant and what Kagome had hammered into him regarding finding his way around on his own (since she couldn't fool herself into thinking that he was always going to be under her watchful eye). She had said that asking at information booths was a good idea.

Or, at least, he hoped it was what she had told him. The conversation really hadn't struck him as very important at the time, but now… He watched the street for a few minutes and dropped down to cross it determined to make a few quick inquiries.

For all the big tower of glass and the tall standing pennants the information building turned out to house a surprisingly small floor area with a really, really, high ceiling showcasing an astonishingly ugly view beyond of the architect Kenzo Tange's best attempt at a mega city. The effect was only partially muted by large Mylar screens strategically hung in an attempt keep out the worst effects of the sun. As it was, the temperature inside was a good eighty degrees or better.

Inuyasha strode up to the desk and glared at the sweating attendant behind it. The attendant, in his turn, goggled at the flowing white hair and glowering appearance of the hanyou confronting him but tightened his tie and pulled himself together, "Can I help you?" he rapped out with all the briskness of a slightly shocked boy scout.

Inuyasha took a good sniff and decided he was harmless if too free with cologne. "I need to know where they would fit kimono for a bride."

The attendant cocked his head with a startled look and mouthed the words over. "Bridal kimono…You need a clothing store."

Inuyasha withheld his frustration by biting his lip and counting to ten, "Now why the fuck would I need to a clothing store?" He asked in what he considered to be a reasonable tone of voice, "I need a place where they might know how to put an old style bridal kimono on."

"I'm sorry, this is an information desk for theaters."

"Where would I find out about kimono? I'm told the actors know how to wear them."

"We only deal in information and tickets for theatrical performances and the preservation of the art. There are some very fine old theaters that in this area that deal exclusively in antique costumed drama. Perhaps you could learn about how things looked back in old times by watching a few performances." The attendant was cheering up and warming to his subject, "Could I interest you in a day's walking tour ticket of the district that permits you into single acts of matinee performances? Today there are performances of traditional material at a number of…"

"I don't want to see a performance, I want to see who handles their costumes!"

"Listen, Sama, I don't think they do wedding fittings for ladies! Unless you are engaged to a man…" The man stared pointedly at Inuyasha's hair. "If that's the case, try the kabuki-za. They're really old-school."

"You expect me to want to marry a man?" Inuyasha asked with more interest than irritation: the notion seemed so outlandish. Sure, he had heard of taking male lovers, who hadn't, but marrying them? "What would be the point?"

"Love." The attendant sniffed.

"But I'm not marrying anybody for love..Oh, wait, I am. But that has nothing to do with it!"

"You're not from around here, are you?"

"Yes I am."

"You could've fooled me."

Inuyasha leaned forward, "I own the ground you stand on, if that's your problem."

"But this is imperial property, in case you hadn't heard."

"No, I hadn't. But it'll be mine anyway if I rip your head off! Where is the Kabuki-za you pusillanimous git?" Inuyasha's voice had risen to a roar by the time he finished and the attendant had backed off with his hands over his ears. There was a hard breathing silence broken only by the sound of a mylar sunshade letting go from its position and crashing down to the floor. The attendant pointed a shaking finger at a stack of theater maps sitting on the corner of his desk near Inuyasha's hand. With a snarl Inuyasha took the entire stack of maps and left.

:0;;;;;;;;;;0:

Ten minutes later the crash of the door leading to the offices of the Kabuki-za underlined Inuyasha's sense of triumph. Kagome was there! No-one could stop him from finding her. Behind him the door collapsed in a satisfying shower of glass, leaving only the metal frame. His feet pounded down the corridor past confused human faces, one stepped out into his way and he gave it a light tap with his rolled-up pile of maps. 'No need for those anymore; they had all been the same anyway'. He let the pages flutter free from his hand as he ripped aside the curtains to where Kagome was.

There was a good deal of confused movement in the room as a nearly naked Kagome was bundled along with what looked like an over-loaded kimono rack towards the open door of a back room. Kagome's face was staring back over the shoulder's of her captors and he could make out the dreaded syllables being enunciated. 'Ha! No more!' He leapt forward intending to snatch back what was his when a powerful waft of youkai struck his nose and he was brought up short by a boomingly powerful voice.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE!"

Inuyasha spun to meet this new threat and found himself nose to nose with an apparent human who was exuding an unmistakable amount of youki, "By what right do you come barging in here?"

Inuyasha looked the man up and down. To all outward appearances, he was a middle aged human of not quite middling height and unusually slender build. Experience had made him cautious, however, and he angled himself so that he could keep an eye on all of the room's occupants and the door to the hallway. He bared his fangs at the man facing him and inhaled carefully, 'Snake? Yes, snake.' Inuyasha relaxed his stance very slightly, "Take a good whiff, what do you think? That's my mate that you've got stripped down in here."

His opponent slid his eyes towards the huddle of women and clothing rack and licked his lips. After a moment he frowned in puzzlement and looked over at Kagome, who was batting the other two women away from her.

"Inuyasha, if you don't settle down, so help me I'll…"

"What, Kagome? Want to tell me what I'm doing here? You said you were staying at the shrine."

The girl straightened up, forgetting her audience, "I'm learning how to wear my wedding kimono, Inuyasha. Remember kimono? Remember really, really antique hard to walk in clothing?"

A chuckle from the man interrupted them, "I see your story is true, Inuyasha. A fine girl." Simultaneously both Inuyasha and Kagome's heads turned towards him with self-conscious glowers. The man crossed his arms across his chest and only chuckled the more, "Nakamura-Chan, I suggest we get on with this fitting forthwith before there's another interruption." He licked his lips again and his face suddenly looked chagrinned as Inuyasha snapped his head towards the doorway and a quavering but deep and powerful old voice could be heard out in the hallway.

"Bando-Kun," said the voice, "that violent young man knocked young Jiro-San over. His glasses are now bent."

Bando straightened his shoulders and approached the doorway, speaking smoothly, "I am very sorry, Nandi. There was a misunderstanding. I believe it is cleared up now."

A very old, very shriveled man appeared in the doorway, leaning upon a cane. He stared unblinkingly at the occupants of the room, slowly swiveling his head from one to the other and licking his lips all the while. Inuyasha stood tensely, looking back at him and then shifted to at least partially block his view of Kagome. The oldster thrust his neck forward, "Inuyasha, huh?" He gave a little hissing laugh at Inuyasha and Kagome's startled eyes, "I may be old; but I ain't deaf! Well, carry on, but there's the little matter of my side door and my great grandson's glasses to be settled. You should be less impulsive and listen more to what's going on Bando, before you go passing out invitations." With another hissing laugh he stepped back under the remnants of the doorway curtain and disappeared.

Bando stared after him a moment and then clapped his hands and rubbed them together, "Well, this is just all too entertaining. Nakamura, let's get that rack set back up and take it from the top."

The two women silently got to work, Nakamura-San with obvious composure and the kimono lady with trembling hands and a tendency to drop things. Within a few minutes, the rack was once again arrayed with flowing swaths of kimono and Kagome was again being abstracted from the yukata that she had firmly re-wrapped around herself. Inuyasha sat in a corner, distaining the zabuton cushions for the tatami mats. Kagome kept waving at him to turn around but he just set his jaw and fixed his gaze in the middle of the room. If that snake was going to be able to look he, for one, would be keeping an eye on things.

))))))o0o((((((

It was, in its way, just like old times. Inuyasha being apparently indifferent while dozing in the gentle waft of Kagome's scent but keeping a sharp lookout for anything untoward. Kagome focused and busy while constantly aware of the hanyou near her. The actual kimono fitting took about forty minutes, and would've been done with a lot sooner if Bando hadn't made frequent meaningful grunts and occasional sudden expositions on the philosophy and meaning of the assorted layers and why what they were doing was wrong. By the time they were done all three of the women engaged In the actual dressing were tensed up and nearly jumped out of their skins when Bando suddenly gave a dry cough. He apologized and waved them to continue after clearing his throat but Inuyasha (who was ever tuned in to such things) thought he caught the suspicion of a laugh behind a covering hand and glared at Bando all the more.

After that, it was the walking and moving in the layers of kimono and practicing the movements required of Kagome for the marriage ceremony. Inuyasha found no enjoyment in this, now that Kagome was properly covered, and restlessly took to picking at the straw covering of the tatami mat before him.

The third time Kagome successfully completed the required movements demanded by the ceremony and demonstrated her ability to smoothly kneel and manage the layers of fabrics piled upon her Bando declared himself satisfied. Kagome dropped her shoulders in relief and nearly had to grab at the kimono layers to keep them from sliding off. She was beginning to find a new level of appreciation for the graceful Himes that she had met in the Sengoku Jidai. Their lives had been even more circumscribed than she had imagined them; swathed about in imprisoning fabrics as they were. She had always rather thought their movements to be stilted and lacking in spontaneity, but now they seemed miracles of light grace. She glanced over at Inuyasha to see what he thought only to stifle a gasp behind a quickly-lifted sleeve.

Inuyasha glanced at her, nonplussed for the moment, and absently twirling the twist of straw and fibers between his fingers. He moved to toss it aside and stand up when his attention was caught by the fact that it seemed to be attached to something. Bando's voice floated out of the background as he directed the redistribution of the kimono on its stand as Inuyasha stared in realized with an almost guilty shock that he had dug straight through the tatami mat he was sitting on and was pulling out some of its filling fibers. He dropped it and rose quickly with a pink face, setting his bare foot firmly over the hole.

Kagome stood as well and deftly kicked one of the zabuton cushions over in his direction as she walked across the room and stood by the others asking questions about the deposition of the kimono. Inuyasha took the hit and kicked the pillow to slide behind him as he walked over to her side.

"We'll take the rack down then and pack up the kimono for you, Oshima-San and you can pick both it and me up when it's time for us to dress her for the ceremony." Nakamura-San was saying as she pulled a bit of fabric into place. "That would be best as such a valuable piece really isn't safe in the trunk of your car.

Oshima-San nodded even as she edged nervously away from the hovering hanyou. Maybe it was his unconventional hair or his dramatic way of making an entrance but she just couldn't be comfortable in the same room with him and Inuyasha knew it too. He took a perverse pleasure in knocking against her elbow as she started to pick up the kimono wrappings making her drop them.

Kagome frowned at him and he blinked widely innocent eyes at her as he accidentally on purpose stepped on a corner of the wrappings and left a dusty footprint (shoes hadn't been high on his list of priorities when he had left her mother's kitchen so precipitously). She bent and twitched the wrappings from under his foot herself and gave them an impatient wipe on her yukata before handing them over.

She politely refused the kimono lady's reluctant invitation of a ride home in her car and walked with Inuyasha and Bando to the door. There they were greeted by the sound of a utility broom brushing up the last shards of glass in the hallway and the rip of tape as it was applied to the door to hold sheets of cardboard in place. All three winced at the sound of this and were very polite to the actor as they thanked him for his time. He waved their thanks off with a depreciatory smile and the two turned to make good their escape.

The old man that Bando had referred to as Nandi-San stepped out of a side room and blocked their way. "Ah, young Inuyasha! Leaving so soon?"

Inuyasha stopped, Kagome slightly behind him and gave a very small nod in response.

"The young lady was here to learn to mange her wedding kimono?"

A grunt was his only response and Kagome felt forced to speak up, "We're very sorry about the door."

Inuyasha lifted his head at that, "No we're not! The only thing I'm sorry about is the…"

Kagome firmly cut him off, speaking while snuggling up to his side, "Of course we are, Inuyasha-Koi." Inuyasha gave a startled look and nearly shook her hand off but settled down as she continued, "It's just that he's so protective you know."

Nandi chuckled at Inuyasha's reaction, "Don't worry, Sama, the door is insured. Indeed, everything at the Kabuki-za is insured. However I stopped you that I might present you with this on honor of the wedding. Banzai." With these familiar words the old man slipped his hand into the front of his kimono and drew out a narrow black box, shiny with lacquer. "Please accept it."

Kagome bowed and accepted the box with both hands. The old man immediately drew away back though his curtains. Inuyasha promptly tweaked the box out of her hands, gave it a good sniff and thrust it down the front of his T-shirt where it made a peculiar lump against his stomach.

"That was intended for me, you know." The girl remarked with a jaw-splitting yawn.

"Let's just say I'm not going to drop it. C'mon, Kagome, let's go home."

The girl yawned again and allowed him to draw her out into the autumn night.

:ooo0ooo:

The trip over the rooftops home was quiet. And a snoozing Kagome didn't notice when Inuyasha reached the shrine roof and stiffened with a curse; Sesshoumaru was there.

They made their way through the back door, Kagome in the lead. Sesshoumaru was sitting at the table with Higurashi-San sharing a pot of tea and Kagome trundled right past them with a muzzy "tadaima" and a peck to her mother's cheek as she headed for the stairs.

Inuyasha paused on the threshold, taking in the situation and turning the closed box about in his fingers. Sesshoumaru lifted his head and returned his brother's gaze silently. There was a grim set to his mouth and his face was pale, the magenta stripes clearly visible. His silence seemed to forbid speech without posing a challenge and Inuyasha let the impulse to jibe at him alone. Instead he walked past and paused by Sesshoumaru's shoulder for an instant.

Sesshoumaru did not follow him with his eyes but his tension was apparent and he gave a nearly imperceptible jump as Inuyasha tossed the box on the table in front of him. He then continued past without a word to follow Kagome up the stairs.

Higurashi-San watched the odd exchange regretfully and reached across the table to pick the box up when Sesshoumaru didn't move. Its shape looked familiar and she slid the top open in curiosity. Inside it was a fan. It was a large one, a good nine inches long, and looked like it was a mai-igi fan: one that would be used in court ceremony or temple dances. She spread it open between her fingers and studied the bold pattern of scarlet slashes across its white silk in strong contrast with the sharply-pointed ebony sticks. Matching scarlet tassels dangled from its ends. All in all, it was a bit much for a wedding ceremony.

"Why would Inuyasha be giving something like this to you, Sesshoumaru?" She murmured.

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	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

He sat up that night watching Kagome from across the room. He wanted the opportunity to think about the last few days and the discoveries they had brought. If he let himself sit on her bed, surrounded by the comfort of her scent, he'd probably drop right off without even realizing it. At least in her time, sleep wasn't a problem for him.

Things were different on the other side of the well. He'd spent too many moonless nights being an attractive target for that and had only stayed in the open instead of going to the refuge of his house on his human nights because Kagome would be without his protection. Not that she had ever seemed to appreciate it. She had always insisted that he hide and would often go with him to sit in some abandoned shrine or other in a perfectly useless attempt to stay out of trouble. Trouble had followed them like iron filings to a magnet on those nights anyway.

It would've been better if she'd slept easier. But when did Kagome ever sleep easy? Kagome tended to sigh and mutter to herself in a faint running monologue that had become one of his chief nighttime entertainments. Amazing what you can find out about a person that way. That and watching Shippou kick the living hell out of everybody near him had occupied many a long night. He didn't need much rest and watching over them combated both his eternal boredom and his need to protect what was his.

At first, she had annoyed him with her murmurs; they drew him and resisting them made the tickle that he felt when she was near all the stronger. As he got to know her, he started to believe that obligations to her schooling and the need to find all the shards ate at her. Although why many of her dreams seemed to include ordering food at some sort of mental restaurant was past him. Later, he began to think that she rested uneasy because of the split in her personality; that some part of her was walking around powering Kikyou on her relentless journey. That frightened him and made him more intent on completing their own journey while keeping a weather eye on Kikyou.

Miroku and Sango both claimed that they always knew when he left the camp at night because Kagome would get louder and more agitated, waking the others while remaining asleep herself. Whatever, even if he left her alone briefly, it would be to come back. He would be the one keeping watch over her and he resented their lack of understanding about his motives. They had made him even more closed-mouthed, keeping his suspicions to himself.

He now knew from her mother that she had always had vivid dreams all her life and that his presence seemed to quiet them down to a murmur. That was more satisfactory so far as he was concerned and removed much of the guilt and fear that he had labored under.

So, it was nearly peacefully that Inuyasha rocked his head back against the wall and looked beyond the spindly legs of Kagome's desk and out into the night. The window was open and he could see the darkened circle of the new moon. He could feel the ebb and flow of his blood and pulled up yet again the power to control his youkai and his humanity. His senses re-sharpened and he knew that, although Sesshoumaru had said his goodbyes some hours ago, he was still on the grounds of the shrine. What's more, he knew why. With a silent rush, he was out of the window to meet his brother at the foot of the Goshinboku.

/(0)\

Sesshoumaru stood waiting quietly in the shadows, an erect figure holding a narrow black-lacquered box. Inuyasha stopped in front of him and nodded towards it. "So, you don't want it?"

Sesshoumaru gazed at his brother for what appeared to be a flummoxed moment and slowly extended it on his palm, "Why would I want it?"

"Why wouldn't you want it?" The two stared at each other in a sort of conversational impasse. The wind picked up, bringing a smell of exhaust from the road and they both sneezed. Inuyasha flicked his ears in annoyance while Sesshoumaru glared with slightly watering eyes. Inuyasha picked up as best he could, "Well, how else did it get here? I figured the snake youkai infesting the Kabuki-za Theater either mistook me for you and gave me Kagura's fan or that you were here expecting my delivery of it. You do know that they're all snake youki that had Kagura's fan, don't you?"

"Would I care?" His hand was again extended with the fan in its palm.

Inuyasha took this as a good sign, "No, you're not the kind of guy to care even though you brought this fan forward in time…"

"I didn't bring it."

Inuyasha blinked at him, "No?"

"No."

"So, then why…" The fan case was dropped suddenly and Inuyasha caught it in a lunge before it could hit the pavement.

"I never saw it after the end. I don't know why it's here. Additionally, I also don't know why it would have survived Kagura's dissipation; there was very little left."

Inuyasha flipped the case back down the neck of his shirt and completely ignored his brother's disdainful sniff, choosing to see it as the effects of a runny nose, even though he knew better, "Fine, then, Kagome can use it for the wedding after all. The theater guy seemed to think her carrying a fan was important. I just thought you would lay claim to it." He shook the front of the t-shirt lightly and allowed the case to settle again against his stomach, not caring if it poked out or not. "So, what brings you here to visit if I wasn't playing delivery boy for your fan."

"You do. I intend to take care of certain affairs. I feel a need to tidy up my house."

Inuyasha tensed and sent him a suspicious glare, but Sesshoumaru was dressed in one of the suits he affected in this era and there was no sign of either of his swords. He eased his stance slightly and gave a humorless grin before replying, "I would understand the need. It's a little cobwebby."

"This Sesshoumaru sees nothing in this that warrants light treatment. There is little expectation of you understanding anything."

Inuyasha hitched up a brief sigh and elucidated, "Look, Sesshoumaru, I can tell you haven't mated Rin. I don't mean to be nosey." He responded to his brother's renewed glare and gave a slight flick to the end of his own nose. "But there is no way to miss it." He suddenly caught his breath at his own line of thought, "Is Rin OK? Did she have a relapse? I'll call Kagome…"

He was prevented from leaving by Sesshoumaru's suddenly lifted arm. "That is not necessary. The Rin-child is safe and at my apartments under the watch of Jaken. As she should be."

Inuyasha turned back in surprise, "Under the watch of Jaken, at your apartment? Now, didn't we just get through all of this? I haven't seen Rin in a long time but she is no longer a child. You can't do that to her." His voice was gaining in volume and cracked across the empty shrine pavements.

"What I do and what I do not do is by my will alone!" Sesshoumaru's voice had deepened and increased its force.

"Oh, really? Wanna bet?"

Sesshoumaru's head snapped to the side and Inuyasha realized that some one was coming. Sesshoumaru suddenly sprang up into the air and formed his ball of light to zing off into the distance.

Inuyasha shook his fist after his brother's retreating back shouting after him, "You get back here! She turned you down, didn't she, you loser!" Inuyasha thought there was a hesitation in his brother's vanishing form but it continued out of sight. He was gathering himself to follow when a voice broke in on him.

"Leave it be, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder disgustedly at the two who approached him, coming from the forecourt of the shrine. "Don't you two have anything better to do than to barge in on other people's business?"

"Are you so ready for tomorrow that you can spend time shouting in the courtyard where everyone can hear you?" Jijii-Chan returned with a belligerent stare and folded his arms to wait for an answer.

Inuyasha blinked between him and a fiendishly-grinning Jukuryo in dismay, "Tomorrow? What about tomorrow?"

"The auguries were cast this afternoon, Boy. The most auspicious day is tomorrow, between 10 and 11:30 in the morning. Best to at least get some rest. We are out here to prepare. We must check on a few last things and then I must purify myself." Jijii-Chan's tone of voice was a fine meld of smugness and self sacrifice that was lost on the confused hanyou. "Shouting young men wandering around the shrine precincts at this hour is just not what's appropriate.

"Prepare, for what? What the hell is this old goat talking about?" Inuyasha looked to Jukuryo for explanation.

"What else could it be but your wedding? Indeed," Jukuryo nodded affably in Inuyasha's shocked face as if he had asked a question, "You'll be delighted to know that I, myself will be keeping watch over your esteemed grand-father-in-law as he readies himself to conduct tomorrow morning's solemnities. The shrine staff, the good offices of your noble brother and, in some small part, my own company have combined to make this wedding possible at the earliest auspicious time. Surely you noticed the augury that was cast in the shrine this afternoon?" He paused expectantly but, Inuyasha was shocked into speechlessness and could only gape at them. "All those crowds when you arrived, the burning of the shrine rope, they were all part of the purification ceremony. With all the monsters gone it seemed a good time to cast the augury."

"I, I was busy with something." Inuyasha could not bring himself to admit that he had been barely able to see from the pain of the poisoned wound in his arm. It had only been Kagome's mulish insistence and his own sneaking enjoyment of the attention that had ever permitted him to admit to such things in the past.

"Well, your brother Sesshoumaru has been very helpful and you owe him a debt of gratitude. Go and get some sleep now. Tomorrow's a busy day." Jijii-Chan waved him off with a flicking motion of his sleeve and was never to realize how fortunate he was that he was old and frail and Kagome's grandfather.

Jukuryo had a pretty good idea of it though and kept a close eye on Inuyasha as the hanyou grouchily beat a retreat back to the house and Kagome's side to contemplate weddings and tomorrow. The claw tracks down his right arm hadn't looked many hours old and bore the faint greenish glow of poison. There was only one youkai around who was likely to have left such a set of marks as that and it made Jukuryo wonder about just what had gone on in Sesshoumaru's apartment after he had left.

He knew that Sesshoumaru had a wedding invitation and now carried one or more of his own tucked into his belt. He thought they would prove useful in the long run. Jijii-Chan had trundled off towards the storage buildings and was at the front of the storage shed pulling awkwardly at a rope. Jukuryo wandered over and saw that it was attached to a low wooden cart which held a pair of the enormous wooden buckets filled with sake that was a mainstay of traditional weddings. Jukuryo chuckled at his friends efforts and helped with the rope to tow the creaking cart across the shrine's pavement to an open air pavilion at the edge of the main court. There, as the autumn mist rose about them and blanked the city in a damp fog the two companions, one an old man and one a very old youkai first tested and then blessed the butts of sake, sealing what virtue of luck they could into the still wine.

Jijii-Chan then went off to meditate alone in the Haiden among the sacred relics of the shrine and Jukuryo went off to keep a rather sterner watch in his own way. Jijii-Chan was old and frail and would eventually doze during his purification ritual only to start guiltily and rub at his stiff neck to ask pardon and resume his prayers. The shrine priest was pure enough for all intents and purposes and there was little doubt that his prayers would be heard.

He, himself picked up the large dipper of sake he had purloined out one of the butts and carried it with him to the head of the shrine steps. He paced down them deliberately, muttering to himself, and stopped at the bottom to pour a careful line of the stuff across the bottom step. He studied the wet mark carefully and added a few sloshes for good measure to seal up some thin spots and then retreated up the steps to about midway and took a seat on one with a grunt. The moonless night was darkening and a chill mist was curling through the trees about the shrine. All in all, it was not a bad spot to sip the remainder of the sake and smoke a cigarette.

He had not been sitting there long, in fact, only long enough to start on his third cigarette, when the streetlamp visible at the foot of the shrine steps flickered and went out. Jukuryo promptly stubbed out his cigarette and flicked it off into the surrounding bushes. Picking up the dipper he drained it in a hearty swallow, "By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked that way comes." He misquoted to himself whimsically as swirls of jaki gathered around him..

There was a faint sound approaching up the slope of the street. It seemed to be the slow, steady, beat of a padded drum and the muffled clank of a hand bell. Jukuryo turned his head in interest and watched as a small group of individuals appeared at the foot of the steps. It seemed almost a nobleman's procession from times of yore for out in front came a youthful figure, that of a young man clad in a loose jacket and carrying an old-style lantern dangling from a pole. Several of the walkers appeared to be old men wearing overcoats buttoned up tight against the chill of the night and a couple of them appeared to be mendicant monks of the sort can be found still occasionally in country places where old traditions die hard. It was they that carried muffled drums and bells hung low in their robes.

The line drew up at the base of the steps and one of the fedora-hatted ones walked forward and looked up. The hat kept his face in shadow and his hands were in the pockets of his dark coat, "Ah, Jukuryo-Sama, you pick an odd spot to enjoy a fine evening." The voice was deep and slow.

Jukuryo stood up and bowed before reseating himself with his hands upon his knees. The figure at the base of the steps bowed in response and made to place a foot on the first riser. The foot did not come down however and, after an uncertain moment, the owner of the foot replaced it on the pavement of the sidewalk. "I cannot enter, Jukuryo-Sama. Something prevents me."

Jukuryo nodded, "So, I see, Koencho-San. An odd circumstance, that."

"Yet you sit upon the very steps of this shrine. Why is that?"

"Why? This very afternoon this shrine was re-consecrated. The surrounding spells have been renewed. I was witness to the occasion as I was here at the time by invitation."

"By invitation? Inside the perimeter?"

"Even so. There is to be a wedding come the morning and I am to be a guest."

There was a stir among the listeners and another one, seeming by his straight stance to be somewhat younger, spoke up, "Jukuryo-Sama, what wedding is this? How is it that you are a guest?"

"I am a guest as are some others. The young daughter of the house, a miko of no little power, marries one of our own."

Again there was a stir among the watcher and another spoke up with a voice as cold as old stone, "And yet you give it countenance? You are ancient and well-respected, Sama, but your penchant for associating yourself with humans has been noted. It is bad enough to treat with the humans but our purity must be preserved lest we disappear from the face of the land." There were assenting sounds from the group and the faint tap of a drum.

Jukuryo appeared uninterested and shrugged his narrow shoulders. "We were nearly wiped out altogether once, long ago. We have slowly rebuilt in numbers. Very slowly. And we are neither as weak or as great as we were in previous times. We needs must explore different paths."

"What of the snake clan then? They work the closest of all with the humans and scarcely one of them can claim pure blood. And they are weak." The cold voice was insistent.

"They live well in this time and their days are spent productively with much to lend interest to every endless hour."

"At human works!"

"And what of this inu clan?" Called out another, "One upstart appearing a few years ago and taking up with some useless malcontents and humans is one thing. Even with the occasional mysterious death of some weakling. Surely, after this recent infestation of monsters it's bad enough! Now, there is another, and he a hanyou by all accounts. And now you say there is to be a wedding of all things at this shrine. Not only mating a human but on that human's terms!"

Jukuryo grinned and the group fell silent for Inuyasha had appeared at the head of the steps behind him. Jukuryo had no need to turn and look to tell him that he was half-transformed for the youki swirled about them all, "There are hanyous and then there are hanyous, gentlemen." He finally turned his back to the group at the base of the steps and looked up, "Good evening, Nishigawa Inuyasha, These visitors were just passing by to pay their respects. "

"Who are they?" Inuyasha's voice was filled with snarling menace. He took a couple of swift steps down, red sleeves flowing and silver hair floating on some errant breeze. The group at the foot of the stairs backed away an equal amount. His face began to darken further, "What are they doing here?"

"They were here to meet a scion of your ancient and humbly-respected house, Nishigawa-San. No matter, they shall not enter."

Inuyasha glanced at Jukuryo and the mad blue light in his eyes dimmed a bit, "They have come and seen and that is enough." He declared with finality.

"Indeed, and so now they shall leave." Jukuryo agreed equably, "Gentlemen, we bid you goodnight.' he said, turning and bowing before mounting the steps to Inuyasha's side and drawing the hanyou away by an elbow.

"That was very nice, how much did you hear?" He murmured under his breath.

Inuyasha's eyes flicked a surprised look at him. Jukuryo was pleased to see their even golden color. "Just about the whole thing. I felt them coming up the street. What were they? The youkai town watch?"

"Just some concerned citizens. Nice outfit."

"Um, thanks. It's fire rat."

"Very effective. You show good timing."

Inuyasha shook his head. "Keh, I've dealing with this kind of crap with humans for years. First time just intimidation ever worked on a fucking group of youkai though. Then again, the others were always drawn by the Shikon-no-Tama."

"Then they couldn't help themselves. Times are changed, that's all." Jukuryo clapped a hand to Inuyasha's shoulder, "Go back to your mate and get some rest. I don't think we'll be disturbed again tonight."

Inuyasha prepared to go but Jukuryo held him back for a moment, "Just one more thing." Inuyasha looked back. "You aren't planning on wearing that to the wedding are you?"

o0o

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	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Souta woke up early the next morning and stretched luxuriously on his futon, kicking over some toys and searching about under his covers with his bare toes for something. Having found it, he rolled over on one side and toed the button on the top of the remote controller that was tucked underneath his covers and watched as a red light started flashing on the other side of his bedroom.

With a whirr and a muted clatter, the Gundam Robot that he had positioned the night before actuated and trundled forward, trailing a small cart upon which sat a box of imported cereal from America. The name was very hard to pronounce but it worked out to "fortunate bangles" or something like that. His mother would get a box for him every so often through a buyer's club and he loved them. Behind the box sat a bowl, a spoon, and a small jar of hermetically-sealed soy milk. Souta grinned to himself and sat up, pushing the covers aside in a heap so he could pour out his breakfast rations. A little more powerful motor and a way of getting to the bathroom without having to get up out of the bed at all and maybe he would have something he could market to any schoolboy across the islands of Japan.

Having eaten most of the cereal and slurped most of the milk, he dumped the rest in his trash and carefully dried both the bowl and spoon, tucking them away in the top of his cereal box. Today was Culture Day, November third, and Souta stood up to slide aside his window screen and take a look at this day so famous for the past one hundred years for its brilliantly clear weather. Despite its being Culture Day, Souta didn't have to go to school on account of the wedding and the result was that he was almost in an ecstasy of freedom. Not that Kagome's wedding wasn't going to take up most of the day anyway but that was all going to be a party, wasn't it?

Thunder rolled ominously overhead as Souta stared out in surprise at the dank morning. The shrine grounds were shrouded in mist and the eaves of the house dripped dismally. It could've been a month ago for all he could tell, right smack in the center of typhoon season. He leaned his head out and could see the purplish-red of the mulberry trees among the gray buildings of the shrine and fancied he could see a break in the clouds to the east. Of course it would clear; today was Kagome's wedding day and anything associated with either Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru seemed guaranteed to be both magical and interesting. Today would be fine.

Thus satisfied; he pulled his head in and padded out of his room to the head of the stairs where he could hear his grandfather's voice echoing up from below complaining loudly about the weather and the likelihood of a downpour.

Jijii-Chan grunted a greeting as Souta cut through the kitchen on his way to the facilities. He was hanging over a large mug filled dangerously close to the brim with green tea. He had a folded blanket over his neck and shoulders and looked rather like a tortoise carefully sticking its neck out to feed.

Jukuryo sat to one side of the table eating a pile of toast imperturbably. He would take a spoonful of natto from one of those ubiquitous little Styrofoam boxes and spread it on the buttered toast before folding the bread in half and eating it in quick bites. He was holding a cell phone up to one ear and waved his slimy spoon abstractedly at the passing boy as he made sotto-voiced comments into the phone in response to his unseen caller.

Souta could hear, as he closed the bathroom door, Jijii-Chan taking up his complaints again, "Don't you think you should be getting those two lay-a-bouts up, Daughter?"

Mama Higurashi was in the corner ladling pickles out of their plastic jar and onto a plate. She shrugged in response. "The kimono lady isn't here yet. She had to stop off for the other dresser and the kimono. I'll sort Inuyasha-Kun out myself, so they have half an hour or so. Kagome-Chan just seemed so tired last night that I let her go up to sleep as soon as she got home. I don't think she realizes just what's in store for her today." Another ominous rumble sounded overhead. "Good thing we got those enclosure screens for the music hall repaired. Maybe, when people see how nicely things go off for Kagome-Chan's wedding they'll be more interested in renting the shrine halls for weddings. At least, we can hope so."

Jijii-Chan slurped at his tea and blotted at the resulting spot on his front in a spirit of disagreement and glanced up as the sound of a car could be heard from the driveway behind the house.

Higurashi-San heard it too and went to open the back door as the kimono lady's elderly gray Toyota pulled up close to the steps. Mama stepped out and waved a greeting as the engine cut off. "Ohayo gozaimasu. I hope we are not inconveniencing you by asking you to be here so early."

"Oh, no, not at all." Oshima-San replied briskly as she hopped out of the car. "Most families start early. And this is such an interesting assignment." She rattled her keys in her fingers as she opened the trunk where the collapsed rack and the folded and re-bound Itsuitsu-ginu rested

Nakamura-San had swung her door open but sat uncertainly in the passenger's seat, not setting so much as a toe on the ground. Jukuryo appeared in the open doorway of the kitchen and stepped out to walk around the front of the car and greet her courteously. She looked up in response and smiled but her face looked a little strained, "I'm not really sure I should be here."

He gave her a sharp look from behind his spectacles and started feeling about inside his jacket, "Ah, I see, forgive me, I had not realized…"

Mama looked up at that moment and saw that her other visitor remained in the car, "Are you Nakamura-San?" she asked, stepping swiftly forward. "Please, enter my house. I hear your assistance has been invaluable."

The moment she said that Nakamura-San hopped out of the car and made a bow that was rather deeper than normal, "Very pleased to assist, Higurashi-Sama! This dress and, if I may say so, this very wedding is one of great interest!"

Mama looked a little taken aback, but pleased, nevertheless, and smiled as she led the way into the house to get things set up in the living room. They would dress Kagome there. Souta had finished in the bathroom and was directed by his mother to the neatly folded hakama and haori waiting for him on top of the dryer. He put them on, managing the complicated knot himself with only a little fiddling. Mama nodded approval as he passed her on his way out the door, "Stay clean." She said.

o

Jijii-Chan and Jukuryo had left the kitchen, heading for the shrine offices, Jijii-Chan still with his blanket wrapped around his shoulders and pulled partway up over his head. The unpleasant turn in the weather and the late nights were beginning to tell on him and he rather thought he was coming down with a cold. Souta could hear his soft litany of complaints as he bit into a pastry he had swiped from the kitchen counter. It had stopped raining and the garden dripped with fat drops of rain water causing Souta to pick his way between the bushes at the corner of the house.

The caterers had already arrived. Their small van was pulled up onto the lawn as close to the wicket gate to the shrine grounds as it could get with the doors standing wide open. Souta could see trays on racks on the inside and noticed the glimmer of electric light in the large, old style, music hall through its opened screens. ' They must be setting up in there for the reception.' he thought and was just about to head through the gate and watch the work going forward when his eye caught a brief flash of color moving somewhere is the trees over to his left. He promptly veered off course to follow it.

He came upon a young woman wearing a flowered kimono of apricot silk the sleeves of which were clearly picking up more water than they deserved as she reached among his mother's autumn flowers snapping off stalks of disheveled chrysanthemums to add to a bundle of cherry twigs she already held in one hand. Souta paused and watched her for a moment, chewing on the last bits of his pastry and brushing absently at the front of his haori.

"Do you think I should be doing this?" The young woman asked, turning around to face him.

Souta thought about it, staring at the way her straight, chestnut, waterfall of hair fell from a single clip on one side of her head. "Don't know. Are you Rin-Chan?" The young woman's face dimpled briefly and she nodded. "Then I guess it's OK."

The sound of a couple of male voices being raised in argument drew the attention of both of them to the side of the house where Sesshoumaru could clearly seen to be standing on the narrow purchase afforded by the lip of the blue-tiled roof below Kagome's window. Inuyasha stuck his head out for a moment, the red of his suikan jacket startling against the darkness of the room behind him.

Sesshoumaru's voice carried all the chill of a northern sea breeze, "You are not wearing that to the wedding."

"No! I am not! I only pulled this on because…Oh, fuck it. Why are you here?"

"I intend to make sure you do not shame me."

"Oh you do, do you?"

"Inuyasha, I can't see past your sleeve." An insistent hand was tugging at Inuyasha's sleeve and his head pulled back in the window to be replaced by Kagome's. She ignored Sesshoumaru's lurch as he drew back in surprise and leaned far out, scanning the shrine grounds. She caught sight of Rin and waved an arm. "Ohayo! Rin-Chan, I just knew you would be here." She started to wriggle out through the window to Sesshoumaru's obvious shock.

"Oi, Kagome! Why do you have to be such a troublesome girl?" Kagome gave a squawk as Inuyasha suddenly re-appeared behind her and emerged straight through the window with Kagome tucked under one arm. Sesshoumaru watched them go as Inuyasha hopped down to the ground with Kagome in his arms and then took the opportunity to slip in through the open window behind them.

Inuyasha deposited Kagome on her feet and then spun on his heel with an infuriated "OI!" leaping back after his brother.

Kagome stared after him as he clambered precipitously back in through the window but could not bring herself to believe that either brother would allow an altercation to become violent in her small bedroom. She wrenched her eyes away to greet Rin and exclaimed over the beauty of her kimono, quite ignoring the wetness that marred Rin's trailing sleeves and completely failing to notice the mud visible at the hem.

"What do you suppose Sesshoumaru could mean about Inuyasha shaming him?" She asked, finally returning to what was uppermost in her mind.

"Sesshoumaru-Sama intends to see that Inuyasha is properly dressed for the wedding." Rin said as she wound a red ribbon around the stems of her bouquet of purloined flowers. Kagome reached over to help.

"Oh, Inuyasha already has an outfit made up." She said airily, "He needn't show up outside of my window so early in the morning for that." Done with the bouquet she looked around and suddenly seemed to register the sight of Souta in all his finery. She paled and a hand crept up to her throat, "It's today isn't it? My wedding's today. How could nobody tell me!"

Souta went to her anxiously, "Kagome, I knew, that's why they were replacing the rice straw rope yesterday from the front of the shrine. Weren't you paying any attention?" Kagome stared at him, dark eyes wide in a white face.

Rin stepped forward and thrust her bouquet into Souta's hands, "Kagome-Chan, please sit down and compose yourself. You will be fine." In a moment Kagome found herself settled on the wet grass, Rin beside her, superbly heedless of the ruin of her kimono, "Now, take a deep breath and relax. You are already mated to Inuyasha so it is not such a big step to marry him. It's just doing what people expect."

Souta nodded vigorously, "You should see all the responses to Mama's invitations. It seems like everyone related to us and most of the shrine families are all coming. There should be a real crowd."

His intentions were good but Kagome just goggled at him and mouthed the words, "everyone is coming," through white lips.

Rin tapped on her knee to draw her attention and plastered a smile onto her face, "I must tell you what Sesshoumaru-Sama said…"

Kagome rubbed her forehead and frowned at Rin, "Rin-Chan, If Sesshoumaru is your mate, I don't think you need to keep calling him Sesshoumaru-Sama."

Rin brushed some leaves off of her skirt and smiled composedly, "Oh, but he isn't." She could hardly have chosen something more calculated to bring Kagome out of her funk if she'd tried.

"He what? What happened? I was so sure!"

Rin widened her eyes at her, "You know, that was very much Sesshoumaru-Sama's reaction. Well, his was much more understated but it was the same thing all over. He just pokered up and said, 'I see.'" She said, demonstrating the action and dropping her voice to a chill growl. Kagome was torn between the need to giggle and the need to just fall over in shock. Rin dropped her shoulders and returned to her usual breathless tones, "He didn't see at all, of course. He seemed so surprised that I almost took pity on him and told him I didn't really mean it right then and there. But I held firm to my intention and he is here and going to help his brother as he should." Rin nodded briskly and fell silent, taking her bundle of flowers back out of Souta's lax grip.

Kagome sat watching her pick loosened petals off of the chrysanthemum heads, which weren't standing up so well to being passed back and forth so much. After a moment she ventured, "Rin-Chan, just what is your intention?"

"Why, to teach him a lesson, of course. He needs one. Badly. And this is just the opportunity to do it." She ignored Kagome's whirr of dismay and continued on, taking on steam as she did it, "All this time I've worshipped at his boots, and who wouldn't? But I can't say that sort of thing has been very good for him. It's true I was only twelve when we found the portal that Kagura had shown us and traveled through to this era but I've grown up a lot since then and had plenty of time to think about things."

Kagome nodded in agreement and wondered how it had been for her new friend as an isolated child following a rootless youkai. She drew her attention back as Rin continued, "The thing is, you see, that I grew up and Sesshoumaru stayed the same. Remote, denying attachment to anyone, and always seeking power. After Naraku was gone, there was very little to rule over, so many youkai had been killed. I saw his loneliness and could do nothing as I was still a child.

She sighed and resumed picking petals off of her flowers, "Here, in this time, I grew up. Under a long series of private tutors. I'm past my twentieth year by any count. But Sesshoumaru, he could only see me as a child." The flowers dropped unheeded to her lap. "So, I acted as a child. And then the accident happened and Sesshoumaru-Sama placed me in his daemon house for safe-keeping. Where I stayed until you woke me up. I still have to thank you for that."

Kagome murmured something in response but then said, "What then?"

"Well," Rin replied, hands going back to the denuded flowers and starting to twist at the cherry twigs, "then he told me about what and happened and where I was and about daemon houses. And how they could only be entered by someone who was either a blood relative with invitation, a possession or pet, prey or a mate. He said that he had not really considered it when he brought me in but the house supported me nonetheless and my lifetime was now tied to his. He said I had a choice and hoped I would be his mate." Rin took a deep breath and sighed, "All I could see were the shadows on the walls and the spider webs In the rafters. If his house was his heart and his house was in this condition, then what of his heart? I told him I would be his pet, that I did not think he could love me and that I didn't want to trap him in such a position."

"Oh, Rin, no…"

"Oh, Rin, yes. Rin-Chan knows Sesshoumaru-Sama very well. But Sesshoumaru-Sama knows himself not at all. Maybe he will clean up his house and open his heart and start to see me as I really am. And if that happens…" Rin grinned.

Kagome laughed and started to say something when her mother appeared agitatedly around the corner of the house, "Kagome-Chan! Kagome-Chan, there you are! You must come and dress!" Kagome jumped guiltily and scrambled to her feet and both she and Souta gave Rin a hand up as the constricting folds of her wet kimono got in her way. Once up, the trio followed Higurashi-San back into the house leaving the wreckage of the bouquet behind in the grass.

o

"Now would you tell me why the fuck you are here?" Inuyasha had asked in an irritable tone as he re-entered Kagome's window.

"Your wedding is today." Sesshoumaru stated, looking as coldly dangerous and formal as ever he had.

Inuyasha barely suppressed a moan of annoyance and rolled an eye at his brother, "Your point?"

"You should already see my point. You, Inuyasha, are representing our family on the day of your marriage…"

"Why does no one think I can act right?"

"It's not 'acting right' that is my concern! It's being right that matters."

"Oh, like you are right in all that you do!"

"Shut-up, you stupid whelp." Sesshoumaru spoke deliberately and without real heat. "Let me see these wedding clothes you have."

Caught slightly off guard by Sesshoumaru's simply-stated request, Inuyasha went and got the outfit that the kamis of his house had made for him out of the cupboard over Kagome's bed. His face was distrustful as he passed the clothes over and he stood in sullen silence with his arms folded over his chest as his brother picked up one item of clothing after another, looking them over. Inuyasha's ears were firmly swiveled towards the voices that he could just catch from the garden, however, judging from the subject of conversation. It was just as well that while Sesshoumaru's sense of smell was incomparable, Inuyasha won claws down on the subject of hearing. Or did he?

Sesshoumaru grunted as he studied the embroidery of the mons on the haori jacket and finally tossed it aside, "Fine, then, take it off."

Inuyasha's ears flicked and he stepped back a bit, "What?"

"You heard me, take it off!"

Inuyasha looked from Sesshoumaru's determined face to the clothing on the bed. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No. not at all. This Sesshoumaru never kids."

"That Sesshoumaru is full of shit."

"It would be a shame for that Inuyasha to show up at his own wedding missing his balls."

"Fuck you."

"Your choice." Sesshoumaru said simply and grabbed for him.

o

Reviews are so nice.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

It was a noticeably conflicted Kagome that allowed herself to be bundled into the living room by her scolding mother. She couldn't even really find a way to defend herself by attacking back with the fact that she hadn't known how important the day was when she had gotten up that morning. She could tell only too clearly that her mother was wound up to a high pitch of nerves about the imminence of the wedding. All things considered, she, for one was glad that Rin was apparently along for the ride.

Perhaps it would be better that way. They always had said it was better to rip off a band-aid fast than to take it slow.

'Not,' Kagome reflected, 'that that had ever appeared to be really true, a steady pace seemed to be the best way. Maybe the metaphor was more appropriate about weddings.' She scrunched up her brows about this as the two sets of shoji screen doors of the room were slid shut for the first time since her father's funeral, closing the room off from both the front hallway and the kitchen, ' "It is better to marry in haste than to…"No, no, that was wrong…'

A strangled shout and a reverberating thud sounded from the room above her. Positively frowning now, she tried again, ' "Marry in haste, repent at…" Not the one she wanted at all.' A hand took a firm grip of her hair and started running a brush though it as she obediently spread her arms as she had been taught and allowed the white kosode to be slipped over them.

' "Even monkeys fall from trees." No, that was just stupid…'

A voice broke in upon her tangled musings, "Kagome-Chan, step into your trousers."

Kagome glanced down to see her cream colored silk hakama in a careful pile on the floor and stepped in mechanically. The dresser from the Kabuki-za was kneeling before her and deftly raised them up as hands at her waist started working the ties from behind. A hair dryer started up in the corner and Kagome glanced over to see Rin looking mightily amused as Mama started using it on her wet kimono. With a slight start, she noticed that her mother was dressed in a fine sober blue kimono over a red collar although her hair hadn't been done yet.

"Please, raise your arms again, Kagome-Chan." The brisk, no-nonsense voice of the kimono lady made her jump, she raised her arms and felt the first of the layers slide up her sleeves, a matching cream. She stood stiffly and didn't even flinch as the springs of her bed gave a series of protesting squeals although the kimono ladies hands faltered as she set the next, sand-colored, robe in place.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing to worry about." Returned the lady from the Kabuki-za. "I'm sure everything is fine."

Kagome went back to her interrupted thoughts with a vengeance, '"Fall seven times, stand up eight."' Another layer went on as an even louder series of thuds sounded from above sounded as someone was trying to pound through the ceiling with a bowling ball followed by a voice thundering out, "Worthless scum!" A voice that ended in a weird, fading, howl.

Mama dropped the hairdryer and Rin put her hand to her mouth as a sudden silence, deafening it its proportions, fell over the assembled group.

"I think I'll just go up and check on how they're getting on…I'll be right back." Gabbled Mama as she scooted out through the shoji screen door and hurriedly slid it shut behind her. No one spoke as they listened to the sound of Higurashi-San's quick footsteps up the stairs. She came back down rather more slowly a few minutes later and quietly re-entered the room. She had her box of flower-bedecked hair combs with her and her face was serene.

Kagome regarded her mother with misgiving and forced herself to speak, "Well?"

"I thought we might use the wisteria blossoms at the back of your hair."

"Mama…"

The dressers looked with interest into the box, "Forgive me, perhaps that fall of tiny red maple leaves."

"Oh, yes, you are so right. So much more appropriate to the season."

"Mama, what happened?"

Her mother smiled, "Now, don't worry, Kagome-Chan. I think Inuyasha-Kun is probably dressed. His wedding clothes are gone and his suikan-no-hakama are on your bed. They had already left the room when I arrived."

Kagome considered this news, chewing on her lower lip as she did so, "And the room?"

"You never did like that dressing table above half anyway.""

Kagome looked ready to say something really inappropriate. Her mother gave a quick laugh and slapped her daughter between the shoulder blades in a seemingly innocent blow that nearly drove the breath from her lungs and left a red mark that was to last for days. Kagome, thus neatly rendered unable to speak, settled for looping the now completed layers of sleeves over her shoulders a little more firmly and waited as her heavy ponytail of hair was swirled up and the maple decorated comb set in to hold it. A voice sounded behind her, "Well, shall we get to the makeup?" Oshima-San said.

"Nope no time, look at the clock." There was a little sound of dismay as the clock showed 11:15.

"And this is to come off before noon? There is no time to be wasted." Nakamura-San gave quick orders. "The towel, the make-up kit!

Higurashi-san shoved a couple of blue flowered combs into her own hair, somewhat haphazardly, and whipped out a powder box. "Just a little rice powder over the nose and chin, no telling if Inuyasha-kun would like it anyway. He's very particular about some things."

The other two women didn't disagree and Kagome found herself with her mother's pristine white wedding hood carefully settling down over her hair and covering her forehead. It felt rather like being tucked into a pillowcase. But she really didn't mind (having tried it on before in secret) and knew that she looked alright. Rin got up from where she was in the corner and walked over to Kagome to take her wrist. The last thing that Kagome saw of the family's living room, as she was swept out the door and the hood neatly obscured her peripheral vision, was the small shower of chrysanthemum petals and tiny cherry twigs that Rin had managed to leave all over the tatami mats.

The journey out the front door turned into a slow and stately progression up the damp and rather weedy path to the shrine grounds. Their steps past the caterer's van were furthered slowed by her dresser's insistence on imposing their bodies between any possible contact between the smelly side of the van and her robes so that Mama and Rin had to take over managing her layered train.

The gate was also a minor problem but at this point her four helpers had more or less gotten into the swing of things and were fairly easily able to get her through. The day remained cloudy, but the mist was slowly burning off and things were no longer dripping wet. Kagome walked stiff necked in her heavy silken robes surrounded by the white cloud of gauze of the topmost layer and the white shadow of her mother's wedding hood.

She felt, well, first of all she felt anxious about the clothes, of course, and the effort of holding her arms just so to keep the slippery layers in place was a strain on her shoulders. There was a ringing in her ears and she felt a little faint.

They reached the pavements of the shrine proper and Kagome could hear some soft exclamations from bystanders that were apparently to either side of her but all she could see was the open doorway of the haiden with the new rice straw rope swinging above it. As she shuffled into place in front of the doors a low temple drum took up a slow beat Kagome discovered she was not faint, that ringing in her ears and the floating sensation was unquestionably the preparation that the body made right before it had a heart attack.

"Are you alright Kagome-Sama?" came the soft tones of Rin's voice from somewhere to the right of her.

The sunlight was getting brighter and the whiteness of the hood distracted Kagome's gaze as she wet her lips and tried to answer. "Just fine Rin-Chan! Isn't it nice how the sun's coming out!" Her voice sounded breathy and unnatural to her own ears.

Mama laughed softly unseen over to her left. "That's my girl. Now come, just a few steps."

The darkness of the porch took away the light that was shining through her hood, and Kagome was greeted by the familiar chill and smells of incense and old wood that had filled the main body of her family's shrine for time out of mind. It suddenly gave her strength of purpose and it was with a firm tread with which she made it up the steps and into the shrine. With a faint murmur the women dropped down the hems of her robes about her in a smooth sweep, and backed away. The dressers to wait on the porch, Mama and Rin to follow inside.

Another presence was now at her side and she was handed Kagura's closed fan, with it's dangling tassels, to be held extended before her in her hands like an offering. The beat of the drum changed slightly and she began to walk forward. That other paced beside her in a slow strolling pace that was so familiar. Oh how she wanted to look, and she kept trying to turn her eyes in little glances that would finally defeat the edge of that hood if only will could have its way. She couldn't resist a faint sigh of frustration and was suddenly immeasurably heartened by the familiar under breath sound of a "Keh" coming from Inuyasha.

Nope, there went her heart again! Now it was really banging in her ears for she had come to the end of the aisle and in front of the alter stood her grandfather. In a flash she had assistance to either side catching her elbows as she subsided to her knees on the zabutan pillow provided.

Jijii-Chan looked both benevolent and as if he was going to go to sleep at any given instant as he gave a shake to his tamagushi wand to rattle its paper strips and commenced the first prayer. Kagome gripped the fan in her fingers and eased its first rib in and out, obscurely comforted and grounded by the familiar drone of her grandfather's voice. She wasn't with strangers, only her immediate family and closest associates were here, and it was Inuyasha after all who was by her side.

She heard an impatient sigh from the hanyou as Jijii-Chan droned on, caught up in some exposition of his own about what a beautiful thing love was when accompanied by prudence. Kagome rather hoped that Inuyasha wasn't really listening as is was rather uncomplimentary. Just one of the risks of being related to your officiating priest, she supposed.

Before she knew it though, the bowls of saké were being poured and she had to rise and proceed on her three times circuit of the alter with measured steps. They moved in opposite directions about the alter and Kagome suddenly found she had to concentrate awfully hard to keep the bits of the Itsuitsu-ginu up around her shoulders. It was only at the last instant that she was able to glance up and catch a glimpse of Inuyasha's face as he passed by her. His eyes were intense but his expression was unreadable.

He didn't look at her again when they met on the other two circuits, but his expression went from unreadable to troubled and by the third circuit he appeared to be counting under his breath. At the end of the third circuit Kagome was assisted to kneel again, this time facing Inuyasha with a small table placed between them and two full old style saké cups on it.

Kagome bit her lip and wondered if Inuyasha had been properly coached. She looked up at him and saw that he sat before her as a hanyou and had not concealed his ears. He caught her eyes and she was a little taken aback to see that there was the faintest suspicion of a smirk lingering in a curl of his upper lip. She couldn't prevent her brows from quirking and glanced down at the saké cups. She put her hands before her preparatory to lifting hers and glanced into his face again. Yes there was distinct predatory look to his gaze, and one ear was twitched back as if he thought this was all a game.

Kagome thought 'Oh, okay, if that's the way it's going to be…' She lifted her cup without further reference to him and drank down the saké. As she lowered the cup, she saw that Inuyasha was mimicking her gestures perfectly. The cups were placed on the table at the same instant. Because of the hood, Kagome couldn't see, but it was Jukuryo's clawed hand that filled the cup in front of her, rather higher this time.

Kagome settled herself a little bit more comfortably, digging her rump in between her feet as she reached forward to take up her cup again. She looked at Inuyasha and saw that he was watching her hands. She waited until he glanced up at her impatiently, golden eyes flickering behind unruly bangs, waiting for the game to start again. They held each others eyes this time as they raised the cups and drank off the saké simultaneously in two long gulps. There was a distinct click this time as the base of the cups hit the table top at the same instant.

Sesshoumaru's hand interposed itself between them filling the cups to their brims, and then almost over, the quiescent liquid pooling in the cups and threatening to spill at the slightest nudge. 'What is Sesshoumaru trying to do!' Kagome thought a little wildly. 'Give the marriage bad luck!' She couldn't glare at him so she settled for looking straight across the table into Inuyasha's eyes again. He was looking a little flushed, as no doubt she was, and it was with a reckless abandon that she practically snatched up the cup and worked her way steadily through it in three long gulps, to swiftly lower it, staring into Inuyasha's eyes all the while as both the cups smacked the table with a crack that shot through the shadowy spaces of the haiden and the honden beyond with a loud, combined report.

Inuyasha broke into a grin and Kagome glanced down in dismay to find that the two cups had broken down their centers and now lay in pieces on the white cloth of the table cover. The applause of the watchers sounded loudly in her ears as she was assisted to rise by Sesshoumaru of all people.

"I don't think there's much point to a luck ceremony unless it's done thoroughly." He remarked as he led her forward to where his brother stood. They bowed properly as applause rose again but then Inuyasha simply reached over and grabbed her hand to pull her forward down the aisle, past the surprised faces of her mother and Souta where he stood by the drum.

Kagome had to scurry to keep up, "Inuyasha, your ears! The dressers, all the people in the forecourt!"

Inuyasha snorted and stopped for a moment, "Hello, Spying Frog."

Kagome twisted her head, around, trying to see who it was Inuyasha was speaking to but only succeeded in dislodging the hood so that it obscured her vision entirely. She was abruptly able to see again as Inuyasha plucked the hood from her head.

"I'm a Toad Youkai, if it's all the same to you." Came an aggrieved voice. Jaken stood before them in human seeming again holding a camcorder.

"It is all the same to me." Was Inuyasha's indifferent reply as he returned his attention to Kagome, "No offence Kagome, but why were you wearing that stupid bag over your head? You could hardly have been seeing anything."

"That's a wedding headdress, and it's my mother's. Give me that!" Kagome made a snatch at it but Inuyasha tweaked it away at the last instant and stood dangling it from his fingers and studying it as if it were a strange fish he had caught, "You look better without it, Kagome."

The family was approaching and Kagome looked around to catch sight of Jaken, camera in hand, recording their whole exchange. She started toward him, "Oi." in a moment they were engaged in a heated exchange that Inuyasha watched silently.

"Inuyasha-Kun, why are you molesting my wedding headdress?" Mama sounded more amused than upset as she took it from his lax fingers. "It's an old style, and very pretty. No need for you to hold it so."

"Why wear it? Kagome couldn't see half of what she was doing."

"It is to conceal Kagome's horns of jealousy on the day of her wedding, Inuyasha. Every girl wears one. It's traditional."

Inuyasha stiffened and stared at Higurashi-San as if he'd been struck, "Kagome has no reasons to be jealous of me." He said and strode over to where Kagome was now in a deep discussion with Sesshoumaru, Jaken and Rin.

She turned to him with a brilliant smile as he approached and held up the camera, "Look, Inuyasha, it's a gift. Jaken-San taped our whole wedding ceremony and we'll be able to show it to our friends. He says he taped our approach to the shrine and everything. See?" She fiddled with the buttons and a moment later a screen shot up showing them staring at each other like opponents in a duel as they raised their saké cups and began to drink.

Inuyasha leaned closer and gave a slight flick of one clawed finger at one of the silvery buttons and the scene changed to one of Inuyasha being dragged by the hair in a side door of the haiden by a stony-faced Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha lifted his head sharply and sent an unfriendly glare in Jaken's direction, "Oi! Is all of this stuck on here forever?"

Kagome took her chance to study the movements on the tiny screen as the images of Jukuryo and Jijii-Chan intervened and chuckled, "Oh, Inuyasha, that's just so sweet! I must show Mama."

Inuyasha made a garbled sound of protest as Kagome fluttered in a cloud of draperies over to her mother's side with Rin in tow. He moved after her to lodge his protest only to be brought up short by a dry chuckle from Sesshoumaru. "What the hell are you laughing at?"

His brother quirked an ironic eyebrow at Inuyasha, "Who said This Sesshoumaru never laughed?"

They were interrupted by Jijii-Chan's impatient banging of his tamagushi wand against the rounded belly of a convenient kaiga statue, "Would the wedding party kindly assemble itself? We have guests and hot food waiting outside!"

By the time they had assembled and exited to the porch, the noon sun was high and the early morning mist had burned off completely. Proving yet again that Culture Day was always destined to be a fine day as it has been for the past one-hundred years.

The family, Kagome's relatives and the shrine family's really interested had all gathered at the tables set up in the music hall. The caterers were trotting around quite busily with place settings. Some young workers were laboring in the back of the room frying up small servings, and ladling out little teapots full of a donabe mushi, served in little green-gray earthen ware teapots. Each topped by it's own little serving cup. There were many appreciative "oohs" and "ahs" about the room as the trays of these were delivered.

So, it was a satisfied Higurashi-san who sat back for a moment in her chair to chat with Jukuryo who was seated next to her, "Well it all seems very successful."

"It certainly is very well presented. You are to be complimented in your handling of this wedding, Higurashi-san."

Mama smiled brightly and slid her eyes over in his direction. "I could not have done it without your help. Jukuryo-sama." Jukuryo rumbled pleasedly and poured Higurashi-san some more heated saké.

"It's a pity though," remarked Mama, after taking a thoughtful sip of the warm saké. The satisfied chatter of her family and the blushing looks of the newly married couple caught her ear and eye, but it was really like they were in their own little world, having their own private conversation. It seemed as though nothing could be listening. "It's really a pity that there are no other relatives, let alone youkai, in this time to stand as Inuyasha's family."

Jukuryo silently rolled his eyes and paid attention to tweaking bits of mushrooms out of his teapot-shaped soup server. 'I guess, no matter how obvious I am, I'm just never going to convince them.' He thought. Aloud he said "There are many youkai here in the modern day. They are just very difficult for humans to detect. We have, after all, learned some excellent camouflage."

Higurashi-san lost much of what he said while occupied with having bitten into an overly hot fried puff having to hang her mouth open and breathe in and out quickly while reaching for the ice water. When she had recovered herself, she said, "Are there youkai here in modern times? I never would have known. Why, they can come to this wedding and celebrate with us for all of me. We have plenty."

Jukuryo had a frozen instant in which he dropped his chopsticks and could see them flying through the air spattering droplets of soup to shout "No!" but it was no use, the words had been said.

You know by now what I generally say; I really do always want to hear from you guys.


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

In the crowded and noisy pavilion that housed the music hall Jijii-Chan morosely stared at the silver mons scattered on Inuyasha's black wedding gi and chewed on the ends of his moustache. The mons were of three dogs following each other in an endless circle and they glinted every time Inuyasha moved. That's what had caught his eye in the first place. He'd seen that crest somewhere before but, try as he might, he just couldn't bring to mind where it was that he had seen it.

For his own part, Inuyasha tried his best to ignore the staring old man. He spent his time sucking up everything on the table in front of him and trying to figure out a way to get alone with Kagome at some point. That was the idea, right? Wasn't that what this whole wedding thing had been about. Well, wasn't it? He sighed slightly into his salad bowl and considered that thought. The thought was good so far as it went. He had a pretty clear idea that the marriage was considered a new beginning and that it should be followed up by a consummation. He winced slightly at the mental image provoked by the memory of a village wedding he had once witnessed.

OK, so the idea was great but not in front of everybody else; please. He was sure Kagome wouldn't go for that. He glanced over at her speculatively. She was looking very pretty indeed with the layers of kimono sliding off of her shoulders at every movement and he, for one, thought it was about time to take some action: "Kagome, when are we leaving?" He asked abruptly.

"Huh?" She tried to focus on him despite the muted roar of the party and the piercing accents of some ancient aunt who was loudly describing the treatment of her prolapsed uterus for the benefit of anyone fool enough to listen.

He shifted a bit on his seat, turning his body more fully toward hers, "I mean, when can we leave?"

She looked at him and saw the intensity of his gaze upon her. His intention was clear in the way the heavy lids dropped down over his tawny eyes as they shifted and began to run with molten gold. The very sound of his voice, pitched low enough to carry to her ears alone, gave her a hidden thrill. She blushed and turned away to occupy herself in an attempt to control the situation and succeeded only in picking up her glass and pouring the contents of it into her salad. The julienne strips of hijiki floated apologetically on the surface of the sake she was pouring in before the pieces were borne off over the sides of the bowl.

Claws clinked slightly on the glass as he relieved her fingers of its weight, "Here, let me." He moved to set the glass aside.

"Inuyasha, we must talk." Sesshoumaru's voice had all the warmth of a bath of ice water and was about as welcome.

Inuyasha's neck felt very stiff as he turned around to respond, "Can't this wait?" His brother stood behind him looking out over the crowd with an abstracted frown on his face.

"No. We must talk. Come."

"You are such an asshole..."

But, before he could continue in that vein, Inuyasha caught a frisson of something on the edge of his awareness. Something very wrong. He put Kagome's glass down, "I'll be right back." He told her and got up to follow Sesshoumaru to a corner of the room.

Kagome was left to look across the pavilion to where her mother sat, half-turned and leaning back in her chair as if looking for something in the background. The seat next to her was empty also.

….oooOooo….

Jukuryo had measured his options swiftly and gotten up out of his seat to circle the perimeter of the tables to Jijii-Chan's side. Once there he slid into the chair in Inuyasha's place with a quick apology to Kagome . The old man was carefully taking spoonfuls of soup and drinking a glass of plum wine. One for the stomach and one for the hangover apparently; according to his sour expression.

"Higurashi, I need some information on customs here."

Jijii-Chan scowled at him, his mustache still caught in his mouth. He spat it out before asking, "What?"

"Is this marriage accomplished?"

Jijii-Chan rested his chin upon his fist and stared at him, "You participated in the wedding as I recall. I seem to remember seeing you there at the time."

Jukuryo sighed and reached over to grasp the tuft of his old friend's goatee between thumb and forefinger and tugged very slightly. Jijii-Chan's eyes bugged out and watered in pained astonishment His hand came up as if attached by a string to his beard and slapped Jukuryo's offending hand, "Ow!" They both exclaimed simultaneously.

Some of the guests broke off their conversation to look over at them in mild shock. The pair ignored them as they narrowed eyes at each other.

"Stop that." Jijii-Chan hissed.

"Then pay attention, I am not here to play games. This is an interspecies incident!"

Jijii-Chan blinked and drew back, "True." He admitted slowly, "But I never thought to hear you say that." He sighed and pushed at his food distastefully. His stomach really wasn't up for this and he longed for his bed and his newspaper, "How could she actually want to marry a boy with dog ears? For generations, our family has…"

"Higurashi, would you shut up already?"

Jijii-Chan's jaw snapped shut in affront and he sat stiffly, staring at his old friend.

Jukuryo acknowledged Jijii-Chan's distress with a depreciatory sweep of his hand, "It is true that your family has devoted their lives to this shrine but there are other interests outside of your own that are concerned in this wedding. I need to know now whether or not this wedding is complete. Is there anything remaining to be done?" He took off his glasses and polished them on the tablecloth while he waited, finally leaving them off to one side.

Jijii-Chan was slow in replying, "The relationship is not in dispute, more is the pity, if that's what you're asking. The wedding ceremony came off without a hitch." Jijii-Chan paused and took a sip of his soup, and Jukuryo's shoulders drooped in relief.

"Well then, the marriage can't be contested. I am worrying about nothing."

Jijii-Chan smirked, "No trouble, I can't imagine what you would be worried about. All the boy had to do was woo the girl, wed her and bed her and the marriage is done."

"What?"

"You know the old saying. Why should I have to repeat myself? These prawns are delicious, by the way."

"I thought you said the wedding was complete!" Jukuryo's voice rumbled with renewed agitation.

"And so it is. But you can't have a real marriage without, well, you know. Doesn't matter about past history. If that were true, half the world would be married. No, it's the first time after the wedding that counts." This piece of half-assed logic seemed to make the shrine priest feel better and he took a swig of plum wine with relish.

Jukuryo shook his head and started to cast his eyes about the room. There were some new guests arriving by a side door. He narrowed his eyes in an effort to see and accepted his glasses from Jijii's helping hand with a grunt. Hurriedly placing the earpieces over his ears he took another look at the doorway.

The passage of some of the servers momentarily blocked his vision but then they moved and cleared his view. Yes, there was Koencho, handing off his black fedora and gesturing forward one of those with him to hand over something for the gift table. He looked for all the world like a solid Japanese businessman and no one would have suspected the high seas piracy ring that he ran from his office in the heart of downtown Tokyo. Something about the boar youkai tended to give them that respectable look and Koencho knew how to use it.

Jukuryo scanned the room and spotted Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha standing together in their corner. They had broken off their conversation and were watching the entrances to the music hall with frowning concentration. He rose and swiftly moved to join them, "I am sorry to say that your suspicions are correct, Sesshoumaru-Sama. The warding border to the shrine has been nullified."

Sesshoumaru did not remove his eyes from the group at the doorway as he spoke, "How did this occur?"

"Higurashi-Dono has no little power herself and is of a welcoming nature. She made an unfortunate statement." Jukuryo shrugged his shoulders unhappily.

Inuyasha suddenly gave vent to a faint growl, "It's the same group that were here last night. I'm sure of it. What do they want?"

"To nullify this marriage and ensure racial purity. It is a last ditch attempt to maintain the old ways in the face of the simple fact the youkai population is dwindling. Names are dying out and there are fewer offspring spawned each century. This marriage is like a watershed is the course of the river of their power. From here the future course of all will be determined; rejection and withdrawal or assimilation."

Both brothers gave grunts of disinterest and spoke simultaneously, each over-riding the other.

"This Sesshoumaru has no concern with others weak enough to fear dilution of blood."

"Too late, already done it."

Jukuryo sighed and responded as best he might, "Not every youkai can be sure to breed true, Sesshoumaru-Sama. Be that as it may, the marriage is not considered firm until you have had relations as a married pair, Inuyasha." Two pairs of golden eyes fastened upon him, at last he had their undivided attention, "Here is what I think we must do…"

….ooo0ooo….

"…and the doctors all said they'd never seen one like it."

Kagome toyed with her fan and wished she could leave. Inuyasha had been gone too long in her estimation and the noise of the party was beginning to get to her. It seemed to be increasing and every time she looked up she could swear that there were more people in the room. Finally, she craned her neck to look over her shoulder and spotted Inuyasha standing in a corner deep in a discussion with Jukuryo and Sesshoumaru.

Jukuryo was talking earnestly and Sesshoumaru had an expression on his face that seemed to be registering a polite shock. Inuyasha, on the other hand, had a grin plastered across his features of such brilliance that she wondered that he didn't light the room up. Coming as it was from someone who seldom so much as smiled, it strongly aroused her curiosity. She wished he would come over and share the joke.

As if in answer to her wish Inuyasha gave a sudden bow, accepted something from Sesshoumaru's hand and made his way through the crowd back to the table. Kagome greeted him with a smile but he didn't sit down, instead he rested his hand on the back of her chair and leaned over to mutter into her ear, "Kagome, would you come with me?"

Kagome leaned back a bit in her chair to look up at him inquiringly, "Is it important? We have so many guests, you know."

"Jukuryo and Sesshoumaru seem to think so. They said your grandfather suggested it."

She leaned forward again and looked at Jijii-Chan for confirmation but all he did was frown back at her, wondering what her problem was, "Well, OK, I'll need you to help me with the chair."

"Here, allow me, Kagome-Chan." Rin's voice startled Kagome a bit and she jumped, "I really want you to come with me to the bathrooms. I'm nervous with all these people and I really have to go." Rin's hand was confidingly on her arm and she blushed prettily at Inuyasha's undignified snort.

Kagome was at once all sympathy, Rin had been through so much, "Of course, Rin-Chan, the facilities are this way. Not a bad idea really."

They made their way from the hall, causing no stir amongst the guests as bridal changes of clothes have ever been the way of things. In the back hallway, Kagome was surprised to meet with the dressers, but they were friendly and stated how much they were enjoying the wedding.

They kindly helped her with her top two layers and swiftly re-did her hair before letting her into the privacy of the restroom and Kagome was greatly relived to have the relative freedom of movement.

All of which contributed to her dismay and sense of betrayal when she emerged to find no-one but the garrulous old aunt that had been plaguing her all the afternoon in the anteroom.

The aunt, in her turn, seemed equally surprised and appeared to be upset about something or other. She was sputtering words in the nature of, "What next?" and, "Wouldn't one just expect it?" As Kagome stepped quickly past her to look out over the crowded music hall in search of everyone.

What she saw brought her to a halt. A slender young woman in a gauzy white jacket and a billowing ecru robe was sinking into her seat in the place of honor assisted by a silver-haired man wearing the black haori with silver mons of the Nishigawa clan. The young woman's head even bore the up-twisted chignon that Kagome herself had carried up until just a few minutes ago along with its waterfall of tiny red maple leaves in a graceful compliment to the curve of her neck. Kagome's own hand clapped to the back of her head to find that her hair was twisted up in a simple bun. The decorated comb was gone.

"Pretty good, huh?" Inuyasha's voice insinuated itself into her consciousness just the way his fingers closed warmly about her wrist.

"What?" she asked vaguely and turned her head to see that he was wearing his plain under kosode and appeared to be a human with black hair. He tugged lightly on her wrist and she followed his lead out through the space left between a partition and one of the supporting posts of the pavilion and out into the open air.

"Glad that's over with. We need to find somewhere private."

"Inuyasha…"

"Just play along, Kagome. Sesshoumaru is helping with this and we really need to find somewhere private."

"Why, what? What could you mean?"

…..oooO0Oooo…

Jijii-Chan spared a glance up from his soup only to do a double-take. "Sesshoumaru?"

"No. I am your associate by marriage."

"I already knew that. Why are you sitting in Inuyasha's seat?"

"I am representing that associate by marriage of yours. Please refer to me as such."

Jijii stared and returned to chewing his moustache. He felt strongly that they were talking at cross purposes.

"Higurashi-San?" a light young voice chirped. "I am sitting in Kagome-Chan's place. Might I be Kagome?"

Jijii-Chan leaned forward to find Rin dimpling beguilingly at him from Kagome's seat. She appeared to be in a wedding gown. "You my be whomever you wish, young lady, but, where is my granddaughter?"

"She is very busy with Inuyasha. We are taking their places. I hope no one will notice."

"I think we will find out." said a dour Jukuryo. "Here they come."

oooO0Oooo

The door of the small shrine slid shut with a decided thump and Kagome gasped on the breath of a laugh as the world spun around her. "I really don't think we should be doing this. All the trouble everyone has gone through."

Inuyasha paused, his arms sliding under her robes, dislodging a couple of the outer layers as he nuzzled her neck. His voice was indistinct and thrummed in an odd way through her breastbone as he replied.

"What?" She asked, pulling back a bit but keeping an arm wrapped around his neck at the same time. She wasn't really sure in her own mind whether she wanted to know what he had said or if she just wanted to feel that tickle again.

Inuyasha seemed to labor under no such uncertainty as he placed a hand at the small of her back and propelled her firmly against him again. "Don't remember asking anyone to do anything." He said more clearly as he placed his head back where it had been. Once there, he kept talking, causing her to writhe in his grasp from the renewed thrum of his words, "Now, shut up, I'm trying to see if I can do something."

She seemed to be having trouble getting the words out, gulping as traced an open mouth over her collar bone, pushing a few more layers of fabric aside as he did it. "W-what are you…trying to do?"

"Make your bones melt." He didn't permit any more speech as he slid up her front and slanted his mouth across hers. She sagged against him and he took the opportunity to thrust a knee between hers and so that she was partially riding against his leg.

:Winks: To be continued…


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The noise in the music pavilion was bounding off of the rafters as Higurashi-sama toyed with the stem of her glass and steeled herself to deal with more guests. Her eyes flicked up across the room. There seemed to be some goings on at the head table, and Jukuryo had left her some minutes ago. Sesshoumaru would have been entertaining but fat lot of good that was as she saw him in a small huddle with Inuyasha in his black outfit with its shimmering mons and Rin in her chrysanthemum-flowered apricot across the width of the pavilion. After a moment they all three disappeared around the free-standing screen that concealed the entrances to the rest rooms.

She had chosen her current seat with an eye to watching the incoming guests and felt just a bit bereft at Jukuryo's sudden abandonment. Okay so she was middle aged, did that make her yesterday's cheese? She frowningly took another swig from the glass that had magically appeared before her as one of the servers swooped by. Really, she was mother of the bride after all. Why couldn't she have some of the fun?

"Higurashi-sama," She looked up to find herself faced with a pair of men who bowed and smiled and were entirely unknown to her. They looked like a prosperous businessman and his assistant. She rapidly put down her glass to give a quick seated bow in reply. "We have come to be witness to your daughter's wedding sama."

"That's wonderful, and you are…?"

"Koencho-San." He bowed profoundly and gestured to a young man standing at his elbow. This is my assistant, Kagitsukeru. "He bears a gift from us to your family. We represent relatives of the groom. I realize this is a somewhat abrupt question, but; have they consummated? Do you know?"

Higurashi-San had absent mindedly taken a mochi cake from a nearby plate and had the familiar chewy sweetness go to dry ashes in her mouth. She rapidly attempted to work up enough spit and nearly choked as she swallowed the mouthful down. It seemed to lodge right at the top of her sternum. She gave a cough, "I'm sorry?"

The man gave a shift of his eyes, and looked a little irritated. "Let me be a bit more bluntly, Sama, I wish to inquire into the validity of this marriage-as well as witness it. There are a number of questions about the appropriateness of this joining."

Higurashi-San tried to swallow again, but the mochi cake just sat there radiating discomfort downwards. She gave another cough., "I'm sorry, " she said and coughed again. "I can't seem to…"

The annoying man finally actually focused on her and her plight, "Are you alright?"

She waved a hand miserably and took a swig of water.

Koencho-san looked enormously irritated and stepped forward whipping out a handkerchief. "Please Sama, have this." People near to her were standing up from their seats, and in a moment she was surrounded by a bevy of women who clucked concernedly and obscured her from view. Both Jukuryo and Sesshoumaru stood up and peered across the pavilion to where Higurashi-San was in the center of such a swirl of activity.

Jukuryo gave a gentle backwards kick to Jijii-Chan's left calf and that worthy responded by smacking his tea cup down on the table. "What!" he said.

"Maybe those new guests should be coming over here, as your honored daughter appears to be choking."

Jijii-Chan took a knowledgeable look over at the disturbance in the corner of the room and tugged slightly on his mustache. "Choking on mochi cakes again, is she? I warned her about that. Not to worry; she'll be better directly. She always is." Nevertheless he got up, shook out his robes, settled his ceremonial cap better on his head to stalk over to where the unknown men were facing the brouhaha with uncertain looks.

"Kon'nichi wa." He said pleasantly upon reaching them. He bowed slightly folding his hands into his robes and smiled in a professional manner. There was a hacking sound in the background as Higurashi-San finally solved the problem of the mochi cake she'd been choking on. He raised his voice slightly to be heard over the muted roar of the room, "Are you better, Daughter?"

Higurashi-San nodded her thanks and gathered herself together, rising from the table. She addressed her guests, "Perhaps you would like to meet the bride and groom. Please follow this way."

Higurashi-San nervously got walked with her unexpected guests across the center of the open area of the pavilion, past the short music stands and the traditional instruments. She was uneasy. This man claimed to be a relative of Inuyasha's but he looked wrong in some way that was indefinable to her.

He looked more like he would be related to pigs, actually.

Her attention was mostly on guiding those following her through the crowd which seemed to have thickened rather surprisingly. She had to stop and apologize several times to complete strangers so that she did not register the substitution at the head table. Instead, she turned slightly and smiled in a social manner at those following her before turning to address the wedded couple.

"Please, Koencho-San, let me present my daughter, Nishigawa Kagome and her husband Nishigawa Inuyasha." She turned and smiled at the pair sitting at the table across from her and froze. Sesshoumaru nodded gravely and gave a meaningful flick of his eyes towards the outer screens of the hall. Rin sat next to him swathed in foamy white and sporting a familiar comb with a trailing fall of miniature red maple leaves which just caught on the curve of her neck.

l0l+

In the small shrine Kagome was struggling to hang on to some semblance of sanity while Inuyasha's thrumming rumbles coursed through her body. He was unwaveringly intent upon what he was doing. Firmly catching her with one arm about her waist to keep her still he let his other hand trace in smooth arcs about her stomach, palm flattening for a moment as he worked his fingers into the front of her kosode.

Kagome gasped sharply at the contact of his skin upon hers and the sound echoed around the little chamber and reverberated down into the well.

"They'll hear." She whispered as he pulled at the ties that held her hakama up.

He looked up at that and brushed a kiss at her nose, "Good, let them." With a soft hiss he finished pulling the tapes free and the hakama fell to the floor in a creamy puddle of silk at her feet.

"Oh." she said, in a whimper of excited concern. "Now you've…"

He drew her forward, forcing her to step out of the discarded hakama and leave them behind on the floor. He backed down the steps, holding her hands and her eyes with his own.

She followed him, half mesmerized, as her great swaths of silken robes drew back from her shoulders and revealed her slender body in the shadowy light. Her pert young breasts only drew attention to a narrow waist and the downy fulfillment between her thighs. Drawn by more than he could claim to understand, Inuyasha dropped a hand to slide his fingers hand up to cup her sex as he drew her to him.

She sighed a little and arched against his hand, allowing him the sleek wetness of her folds. He was firm but gentle and his voice was barely a breath as he slid his other hand up behind her head to lace his slim fingers through her hair. There was the soft clatter of pins upon the floor as his claws scraped gently at the back of her head, "Kagome, come to me, girl."

A slight pinch and tug and she was collapsing against his chest, arms wrapping up around his neck to draw his face down to hers for a dizzying kiss.

His hand left her for a moment to catch at the pad of flesh at the top of her rump, fingers tracing over the twinned pair of deep dimples there. He pulled her tightly against his own arousal and she gasped into his mouth.

"Inuyasha, koi."

His arms around her were very firm and she could feel the rock-hard strength of them as he pulled her off of the last step, "Wife, be my wife, Kagome. Be mine now."

Her hands slid to his shoulders and curled over the collar of his kosode, pulling the front of it apart, exposing his naked chest. He kissed her fiercely and pulled at the ties of his black silk hakama, getting them loose in a second before he picked her up and settled her in a billowing bed of her own robes. She gave a faint cry as he stretched his beautiful body over hers and he murmured in response. He buried his face in her throat muttering nonsense words of reassurance and need, his voice urgent.

Kagome smoothed her hand over his shoulder and down the long, taut, line of his back. Muscles bunched as he arched his body against hers with a groan of pleasure. He held her face between his palms and kissed her deeply. She answered him with a matching passion.

"Kagome, " he whispered.

"Inuyasha," she said helplessly. "Please."

He came into her then, in hard thrusts, impatient as though he could no longer wait, stretching her, invading ever deeper into her. The pressure was sending a wave of delight upward, closing her throat. She began to make small whimpers which quickly became sharp gasps as he slid his arms under her waist and drew her upwards towards him. Her head fell back and her back arched as if she could no longer control her body but only offer it to his own

He growled between his clenched teeth and his eyes bled red as he gripped her against him. She felt his muscles contract, pumping into the depths of her, to hold in a long, hard shudder. And then another and another as her own ecstasy burst in hot waves and she clawed her hands into his hair.

They forgot the outside world then. They forgot time travel or family disagreements, the differences between themselves or even what the future might hold in store for them. Instead, for a time they were only themselves, forming the last links in a new bond and a suddenly settled sense of completion.

o0o

Outside of the well shrine however, it was a different story:

Sesshoumaru had gestured for the new visitors to take a seat at the empty places by Rin's side and had waved over servers to clear the old place settings there and start new ones. Koencho was occupied enough with that to miss the approach of an old figure in a festival kimono leaning on a staff. He bowed to the group at the head table and bent across whispering to them. Higurashi-San smiled in evident pleasure, breaking the cloud of concern that seemed to have settled over her brow.

Sesshoumaru rocked slightly forward in his chair, placing one elbow on it's back, and one on the table and looked at this unexpected petitioner. The old man examined him slowly back and Sesshoumaru flicked his eyes up to see that more unknown figures were filing into the room though the front entrance.

His mouth quirked up in the faintest of smiles, and he almost rested his lips against his knuckles to conceal it as he regarded the invasion of the wedding. He sat back and leaning one shoulder against the back of his chair turned his attention to Rin, "My dear," he said, catching Rin's attention.

"Hmm?" She responded pleasantly, squeezing off the tip of a lime into her soup.

"Don't you want to be entertained?"

"Oh yes!" She said squeezing the lime hard enough so that the juice squirted in little acidic arcs. She shook off the droplets off of her hand and dropped the remains of the lime piece into the soup. She blushed, and picked up a chop stick to stab at the lime piece as it bobbed in her soup, "That's right, I get to choose the song don't I?"

Sesshoumaru nodded and Higurashi-San nodded also. Rin beckoned the old man and whispered in his ear. The oldster grinned and trotted off and within moments drums and other instruments were being pulled and pushed into a new configuration in the center of the hall and it seemed that a regular band of the more traditional type was setting up. A few in the crowd took note of that and the fact that no microphones were in evidence and resigned themselves to an evening of polite boredom and traditional music.

Jijii-Chan looked up and sneezed. Maybe the sneeze was the last piece of irritation he needed, but he was tired of all the drama and machinations that even getting this far had taken them. "For Kami's sake! They are late! Make them sing a song!"

The old man turned and thumped his staff on the floor for silence. Alone in the center of the music hall, with his accompanists kneeling around him and where the sound of the crowd banged and echoed off of the walls he thumped away steadily. A partial hush fell over the crowd and he stood very erect, clutching his staff in both hands. He lifted his face and looked very soulful and everyone was sure that the bride had picked a romantic ballad. Oddly enough, his shrill old voice cut through the residual hubbub and noise without difficulty and rose quavering up to the rafters where it seemed to blossom into something quite different.

_Parting the fence of rushes, _

Making her way through the fence,

Someone has spoken to Father,

Spoken to Father of you.

The house is in an uproar.

It was my brother's wife!

The pavilion was in an immediate and answering uproar of laughter. Within moments many of the voices there were picking up the refrain. It was an old song but a very good one and almost everyone there had heard it at least once in their lives.

"What a very peculiar choice," murmured Sesshoumaru.

Rin dimpled, "I've always liked it. Somebody sang it once at a wedding at my village."

He glanced at her, but then away.

Ooooo00ooooO

Kagome sat languidly up next to Inuyasha and peeked at what he was doing, "Isn't that the camera that Jaken had?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha said abstractedly, "I can't seem to work it. Sesshoumaru gave it to me when I gave him my haori."

"What did you want to do? Get a picture of me naked?" She snuggled winsomely on her nest of silken robes.

He snorted, "Not hardly. The only one who gets to see you this way, my girl, is me."

She really couldn't find it in her to mind the possessiveness of his tone and giggled faintly in response.

He ignored her and kept fiddling. "I want to get rid of those pictures of me and Sesshoumaru; they're embarrassing."

She had already slipped on her kosode and hakama as he spoke and was kneeling up adjusting the robes around her shoulders. A little disheveled but very pretty indeed with her hair all undone and down her back again.

"What are you doing, wench?"

She stood up, fully attired now, and leaned over him, tweaking the camera from between his clawed fingers and he let her have it. She looked at him critically, "I like those pictures of you and Sesshoumaru and I know just who I want to show them to." In a swirling flash of robes she was over the side of the well and gone.

Making a desperate grab at his discarded kosode and hakama he was after her in a flash, "Kagome!"

…000OO000...

The song in the music pavilion was coming to its rollicking height;

_Oh what to do with an inconstant young man?_

when there was something resembling a thrum in the air. Both Sesshoumaru in his borrowed robe and Jaken in his persona as a wedding photographer nearly cringed because they knew that a certain young pair of idiots had used the bone eater's well.

Koencho-San gestured to the rather beaky-faced fellow that accompanied him. "Kagitsukeru-San, would you kindly go around the perimeter of this building and check? There is something definitely odd going on here."

Sesshoumaru poured a glass of saké, and handed it to Koencho-San. "Something odd?" he inquired, "Why, how could that be?"

"I do not believe you to be a hanyou," Koencho responded stiffly.

Sesshoumaru sat still at this and merely lifted an eyebrow.

Koencho soldiered on, "I do not believe that you two have mated, or gone through any form of marriage…" he looked then frowningly at Rin. "Although, this girl does appear to be yours."

Rin smiled and cast her eyes down.

Manfully, Koencho-San gathered himself up and spoke straight out, "I think this is a fraud! Where is the real couple!"

Sesshoumaru opened his eyes widely and shook his head slightly, "Truly, I have no concept of what you are speaking about."

Koencho-San stared at him, gazed into calm, cold, eyes that appeared to have never known self-doubt. For a moment he floated on that lake of cool superiority; what did he know, after all? But then his own youkai nature reasserted itself and the touch of another mind, more ancient than his own, was lost, "Where are they?"

There was a silence at the head table that seemed to spread itself to the revelers from the head table. Sesshoumaru's expression didn't flicker but Koencho's attention was drawn to the dwarfish figure of Jaken, trailing shirt tails and hefting a fair sized video camera.

"Inuyasha and his bride went out that away," he said, flicking his thumb over his shoulder.

With a roar Koencho knocked over his chair and ran for the exit indicated and the youkai that had secreted them selves among the guests followed him. The band grabbed up their more portable instruments and followed them, beating drums and hollering up a storm. The human guests gave a collective gasp, waited two beats and followed them out into the shrine grounds to search frantically amongst the buildings in the quickly falling Autumn night for what, they knew not. Quite pixilated, they were, and eventually returned to their homes confused, but, quite all right.

In the nearly empty pavilion, a lone bowl spun on its side in the center of the now empty floor and landed on its bottom with a clatter.

"Well," grunted Jijii-Chan doubtfully, "that was a success."

FINIS


End file.
